Barangay Ginebra San Miguel knows fully well the caliber of the Converge FiberXers. After all, the latter defeated the former early in this PBA Philippine Cup, 106–96, in a commanding performance that saw Juan Gomez de Liaño torch Ginebra’s usually stingy defense.
On Christmas Day, Ginebra will take on Converge in a quarterfinals showdown that is guaranteed to be a slam-bang, exciting affair, as the former looks to stay alive while the latter aims for semis entry. It figures to be a big challenge for the crowd darlings, but Stephen Holt is unfazed, pointing to his team’s resiliency and experience as reasons for his optimism.
“We’re the five seed, but I still feel very confident with our guys and our experience and being under pressure,” Holt told reporters after Ginebra beat the Titan Ultra Giant Risers on Sunday. “I guess that’s the only silver lining of the last two wins, is that we were able to show our resilience and ultimately pull out a win these last two games. But again, anything can happen in the playoffs, and we’re just going to take it literally one game at a time and just fight for our lives on Christmas.”
Yes, Ginebra will again be playing on Christmas—only this time, it will be do-or-die.
Ginebra Will Be Ready, Says Holt
Holt, who fired a team-high 27 points on Sunday against Titan, acknowledged Converge’s across-the-board talent, particularly at the guard spot, with “head of the snake” Juan Gomez de Liaño leading the way. Even so, the former US NCAA Division I standout remains defiant.
“They’re talented across the board with their guards,” Holt admitted. “I’m sure we’re going to watch the film and come up with a game plan of our own, and hopefully we can execute it and, again, just have that sense of urgency, that resilience, and that fight to just win game one and then just keep building off of that. So, I’m sure we’ll be ready. We’re super hungry…”
But make no mistake about it: the FiberXers are super hungry, too, and they’ll be ready as well.
That makes the Converge vs. Ginebra Christmas Day clash must-see TV.
