Barangay Ginebra San Miguel will enter the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals at a decided disadvantage, as it needs to beat the Converge FiberXers to advance. But the crowd darlings will be carrying some momentum, having won their final five games of the elimination round to go from near the bottom at 2–4 to being a Magnolia Hotshots win away from potentially making it to the top four.
A big reason for that turnaround has been the play of the Ginebra bench, which once again came up huge in its win against the Titan Ultra Giant Risers on Sunday. RJ Abarrientos was spectacular once again, firing 24 points to lead the way, while Ralph Cu contributed 12 markers on four triples. Norbert Torres added eight, and Jayson David and Sonny Estil both gave quality, high-energy minutes, spiked by a combined eight points.
Bench Play Is Key to Ginebra Winning
That great effort isn’t lost on Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who pointed out after the Titan Ultra game how bench play has been an X-factor for the team and how it will be crucial moving forward.
“They came out, and I thought the starters got the momentum back, got us back into the game, got us to a one-point lead, and then we came with RJ and Jayson, and Norbert got some fresh legs out there, and they continued the momentum. That’s basically the way it’s supposed to go,” Cone explained in the postgame presser.
Cone went a step further, essentially saying that the template for Ginebra is supposed to be something like this: the starters need to play well, followed by the bench contributing to winning basketball. He even made special mention of two bench players who have lately been playing well—Cu and David.
“That’s the way we’re supposed to be playing. It’s really crucial that those guys step up. Ralph’s been playing well all conference, and Jayson’s one of our big energy guys that comes off the bench and does little things for us,” said Cone. “Those two guys are really crucial, giving Steve [Holt], Miah [Gray], and Scottie [Thompson] a break there, keeping them fresh. The better they can play, the more it allows Steve, Miah, and Scottie to play well, because they’re going to be on the court fresher and be more efficient.”
The Converge Challenge
That bench—along with Ginebra’s starters—will face stiff opposition come Christmas Day when they face off against fourth-seeded Converge with a twice-to-win disadvantage.
Game time at the Smart Araneta Coliseum is set at 7:30 p.m.
