MANILA, Philippines - It took Tim Cone more than an hour to emerge from the dugout Sunday after Ginebra took an 18-point loss to San Miguel Beer at the Philsports Arena that left the Gin Kings at he bottom of the PBA Philippine Cup elims.
“Obviously, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted,” he said of the game.
The Gin Kings, except for a couple of highlight plays that had their fans roaring, didn’t do things right on this night that was expected to be tight.
They trailed by 23 points in the fourth quarter and tried to finish the game like they were staging a rally when it all seemed they’ve given up early.
“We got disappointed when we fell behind. We’re not at their (Beermen) level and it was very obvious tonight,” Cone said.
Actually, he blamed San Miguel for being too good.
“They’re just too good for us now. That team is just too good, they’re too honed, they know what they want to do,” he said.
San Miguel was too good they had their top five scorers, led by Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo, outscoring the entire Ginebra team, 84-82.
The Beermen committed only nine turnovers in 48 minutes while the Gin Kings had twice as much. San Miguel sank 14 three-pointers.
Ginebra threw bricks and was 0-of-12 from the area.
“They (Beermen) know how to play the game possession by possession, and they’re just things we don’t know yet,” added Cone.