Coach Tim Cone of Ginebra promptly acknowledged the necessity to shake off cobwebs, considering they were up against a more conditioned Converge side on Friday.
The FiberXers, who fell to their third straight defeat on Friday, managed to push the Gin Kings against the wall in the first half, even enjoying a 30-25 lead in the opening quarter.
But Cone’s wards turned to their vaunted defense and eventually clamped down on Converge for the 100-86 win.
“We did worry because (Converge) already had a couple of games under their belt; we’re just coming from practice,” the Ginebra coach said during the post-game press conference.
“We didn’t know what to expect from ourselves. They came off extremely well in the first half, and we just had a hard time keeping up. But we found our rhythm in the second half, especially on the defensive side, and we were able to go.”
For his part, new Ginebra import Tony Bishop felt good to win a game for a team he once played against.
Bishop, who came in as a replacement for Justin Brownlee, said they needed to enforce the necessary adjustments to take care of the FiberXers.
“In the first half, we were just trading baskets a lot. In the second half, we started playing defense more, got stops in a row, got the rebounds, got out the basketball, and just put it out there,” he said.
“It was always good getting the win for the team. I’m glad we got it.”
Cone said they will now have to prepare for a much tougher match against the unbeaten Magnolia, which dismantled NorthPort in the curtain raiser, 112-74.
“Now we have a quick turnaround and have to go after the undefeated for a long, long time (Magnolia),” he said.
The post Cone admits Ginebra struggled early vs Converge first appeared on Fastbreak.
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