Tim Cone knows exactly how Barangay Ginebra San Miguel beat a spirited Phoenix Fuel Masters on Sunday.
For Cone, Ginebra won because Ralph Cu, Nards Pinto, and even Sonny Estil came in and changed the complexion of the game.
Indeed, Cu, Pinto, and Estil were on the floor when the crowd darlings started finding a rhythm after falling behind by as much as nine points in the first six minutes of the third quarter. Pinto came in at the 7:25 mark with Ginebra down, 65-57. Cu followed seconds later with the score unchanged. Estil then subbed in at the 5:50 mark with the score at 68-61 in favor of Phoenix.
“We really couldn’t get our game together… but I thought that the key to the game was really when Ralph and Sonny and Nards came on the floor and really gave us a boost offensively, and that allowed other guys to rest,” Cone said postgame. “I was able to rest RJ [Abarrientos] and Scottie [Thompson] for a while, and I was able to rest Stephen [Holt] and Troy [Rosario]. Being able to do that allowed us to play a much more energetic fourth quarter…”
Ralph Cu Doing What He Does Best
The bench didn’t just give solid minutes. They provided something more tangible, too. Ralph Cu hit a trey to cut Phoenix’s lead down to 68-64. A few possessions later, he hit another long ball to tie the game at 70, ultimately setting the stage for Ginebra’s strong finishing kick. Pinto, meanwhile, took over playmaking duties and got Ginebra into its offense, all while playing sticky defense.
“Those moments when Ralph hit those two threes, Sonny with his energy coming off the bench, and Nards controlling the game I thought were really, really key to the win,” Cone emphasized. “Then when the fourth quarter came, we just kind of played the way we expected ourselves to play for 48 minutes, but we just didn’t have the energy early.”
True enough, the starters took over in the fourth, with Abarrientos, Thompson, and Rosario all contributing on both ends to complement Justin Brownlee’s endgame takeover.
And, after uneven middle quarters, Ginebra eventually pulled out the win—its fourth in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Ralph Cu and company had a lot to do with it.
