As far as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone is concerned, his team is right where it wants to be—right at near the top of the standings and battling to be in win-once territory.
“This is where we wanted our record to be coming into these last three games. Basically, we control our own destiny in terms of getting to that top four,” Cone pointed out after Ginebra dispatched the Titan Ultra Giant Risers, 119-107, on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. “We don’t have to wait for somebody else to lose. So that’s where we want to be. We want to be able to control our own destiny.”
Ginebra at the moment is 7-2 and tied with the NLEX Road Warriors for joint second, just a game behind the league-leading Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. The goal now for the crowd darlings is to make sure they finish in the top four to get a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Ginebra Set to Go Through Gauntlet
Accomplishing that goal, though, won’t be easy because in Ginebra’s way are the Meralco Bolts, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, and TNT Tropang 5G. All three of these teams are widely regarded as among the PBA’s best, and each has a legitimate shot at finishing in the top four as well—and that means all of them also want what Ginebra desires.
“We know we’re going against the three top teams in the league right now… These three teams are leading the league and we’re playing three of the top four,” Cone noted. “It’s obviously not easy games. It’s not a walk to the top four. We still got to very much earn it. Our immediate goal, obviously the biggest goal right now, is to get to that top four so we get that twice to beat…”
Curiously, Ginebra didn’t make the top four in the last Philippine Cup. That, however, didn’t keep the team from making it all the way to the semis after it overcame a win-twice disadvantage against the Converge FiberXers thanks to a series-clinching buzzer-beating triple by Stephen Holt.
While Cone knows his squad is perfectly capable of overcoming a twice-to-beat disadvantage, he maintains such a situation is still “something we’re really trying to avoid.”
So, yes, top four is the goal. But no—it won’t be easy.
