After opening the PBA Governors’ Cup with a two-game winning streak, the Blackwater Bossing have now dropped two straight games following a 115-85 blowout at the hands of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
For import Kentrell Barkley, the Bossing lost because of one big problem: defense. Specifically, the lefty reinforcement lamented how the Blackwater players seemingly didn’t help one another on that side of the ball.
“I just feel like tonight we didn’t help each other out on defense. If one guy got beaten on defense, we gotta help out and we gotta have confidence in each other’s defense,” Barkley told Rebanse.
The Bossing gave up over 30 points in each of the first three quarters, with Ginebra shooting over 55% in the first 36 minutes. Blackwater also allowed Ginebra to knock down 15 three-pointers compared to their own 7 while getting outrebounded, 55-39.
Kentrell Barkley Challenges Blackwater to Do Better
Despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter, the 29-year-old Blackwater reinforcement still finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes of action.
As for his honest assessment after the game, Barkley said the team simply needs to perform better in its upcoming games, especially since they will face Ginebra once again later in the elimination round.
“Just do better,” Barkley said plainly. “We are going to play them again, and we’re gonna do better the next time. Tonight, they just played better than us, so I feel like they wanted the game and it showed tonight.”
After a short rest, Blackwater will return to action against the Phoenix Fuel Masters on July 28 at Ninoy Aquino Stadium. With Phoenix playing better this conference, the Bossing will definitely need to do better if they want to arrest their recent slide.
It will have to start on defense—and in trusting each other.
