Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings upbeat minus Greg Slaughter, tap ex- Cavalier

MANILA, Philippines — Barangay Ginebra will wait awhile for Justin Brownlee and will still be without Greg Slaughter for a good part of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup elimination round but coach Tim Cone remains upbeat of their chances with fill-in import Shane Edwards.

Standing just a little over 6-foot-7, Edwards is undersized against hulking imports like Arinze Onuaku, Jarrid Famous and Vernon Macklin but has his strengths that Ginebra can put into good use.

The former Cleveland Cavalier has a mean perimeter shooting and can attack the basket the way he did in his previous PBA stint with the Alaska Milk Aces in 2016.

“He causes a lot of mismatch problems whether the imports or the locals are going to guard him,” said Cone.

“We’re going to have some really good strengths and definite weaknesses because we don’t have a big guy until Greg’s back. But we think we have some stuff. We think we can compete,” Cone added.

The Kings will still be without Slaughter at the start of the tourney on April 22 as the 7-foot-1 is still nursing the ankle sprain that caused him to miss the Philippine Cup playoffs.

Minus Slaughter, the Kings got past the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the quarterfinals but were crushed by the San Miguel Beermen in the semifinals. The eventual champs disposed of the Kings in five games in their best-of-seven series.

Cone is preparing for a battle with what he’s got in their lineup.

“I think we’re moving well. Japeth’s shown great improvement. You saw it last conference. And we’re used to playing a little bit small with a smaller import so having Shane is an added stretch for us,” said Cone.

Aguilar stepped up in the absence of Slaughter in the all-Filipino playoffs, thus, finishing second behind June Mar Fajardo in the stats derby.

The 6-foot-9 Ginebra slam-dunking center/forward ended up with big averages of 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 blocks.

Slaughter is not rushing himself, saying he’ll make sure he’s 100-percent fit when he returns.

But even without Slaughter, most of the teams point to Ginebra as among the top contenders for the crown in the mid-season tourney.

“Ginebra will always be a contender in any tournament,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero.

Ginebra plays its first game in the second conference against Rain or Shine on April 29 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.