Familiarity with Philippine Arena works to Ginebra's advantage

MANILA, Philippines – Call it home court advantage.

Playing their third time in the Philippine Arena on Sunday night, Barangay Ginebra played as if it’s their home arena.

Everything was simply clicking for the Kings: the shots, the pace, the crowd. For most of the game, they were on the driver’s seat.

Heck, even head coach Tim Cone credited the vibe.

“I think we took advantage of the fact that the rings — everything — the surroundings [were] unfamiliar. It’s hard to shoot when things are unfamiliar,” Cone said.

“Man, 36,000 people. It still looked like it wasn’t full, did it? Incredible. Aren’t these facilities awesome? … It’s a nice facility.  And we actually played well here as a group. We played well here. We’re excited,” the decorated tactician added.

What panned out as a night to remember for the Gin Kings, obviously, turned out as a forgettable one for the Bolts.

Meralco tried to pull the rug on the defending conference champions and wrest the series lead, but they couldn't hold on to the lead they erected in the third frame.

“Well, Ginebra has played here before so they know pretty much what it feels like to play here in Philippine Arena,” offered Bolts head coach Norman Black. “We never played here before so it’s new for us.”

“But that’s no excuse,” he added. “We’re professionals and we’re assigned to play in this gym so we just got to be our best.”

Ginebra’s game latest outing at the massive dome in Bocaue, Bulacan, has been the third time in club history. They’ve been the constant team to play in the 51,898-seater in all of the PBA’s three visits.

The Gin Kings are to looking to reward the steady and warm reception at the indoor arena by defending their Governors’ Cup title and making team history by scripting a successful repeat.

But Cone, ever the wary one, said that it is imperative that they not take their feet off the pedal.

“Prior to this game it was a best-of-three. The most important thing in a best-of-three is winning Game One. You got to go out so you can dictate the next two games,” he said.

“Like I said, we haven’t won anything,” Cone closed.

Barangay Ginebra and Meralco tangle again at 7 p.m.