Barangay Ginebra San Miguel resident import Justin Brownlee probably has seen all kinds of defensive schemes in his stints in the PBA, with Gilas, and in other overseas leagues.
But even he looked befuddled by the kind of defense the TNT Tropang Giga threw at him and Ginebra during the Game of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals won by the latter, 104-88.
That defense was so good and so unforgiving that Ginebra could only muster two points in the first six minutes of Game 1, was 0-for-18 from downtown entering the fourth, and could only score 88 points—23 fewer than the 115 they averaged in the semifinals.
Brownlee Knows What He and Ginebra Are Up Against
Gilas naturalized reinforcement admitted as much after Game 1, giving credit to where credit is due.
“TNT, they’re the best defensive team this conference,” Brownlee acknowledged. “It’s not going to be easy.”
If Game 1 is any indication, Ginebra will have to be on-point and at their very best the rest of the way if they are to crack that TNT defense, which contained one of PBA’s best shooting teams. Coming into the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, the Barangay had been the league’s no. 1 three-point shooting team, shooting 37% from downtown and routinely making at least 10. In the quarterfinals and semis, in fact, Ginebra averaged 10 triples a game and shot 50% overall from the field.
The Tropa took all that away, clamping down on the crowd darlings and stifling them to 39% shooting overall (30-for-77) and a miserable 9% from the arc (2-for-21)—and that’s all after a week of preparation.
“Coach Tim (Cone) definitely explained that to us from the past week that we’ve been preparing,” Brownlee pointed out.
From the looks of it, Ginebra will need to prepare even harder for Game 2, and it may well start with Brownlee, who himself struggled in Game 1, shooting only 8-for-21 overall and a combined 1-for-7 from the three- and four-point line.
Game 2 is on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
