Ginebra cites good conditioning as key to PBA Philippine Cup title conquest
MANILA, Philippines — It is cliche to say that "Heatlh is wealth" but for the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, it rang true in the Philippine Cup Finals.
Going up against an injury-hit squad in the TNT Tropang Giga, a healthy and well-rested squad was the eventual key to victory for the Gin Kings — especially in the title-clinching Game Five on Wednesday where fatigue was apparent in their opponents' movements in the final moments of the game.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone spoke about how crucial their health was en route to the franchise's 13th title in the PBA.
"I know a lot of people will look at this and say they (TNT) had a lot of injuries which is absolutely true," Cone said after the win.
"It's really hard to coach and win without your best players on the floor, especially with no time to really adjust and change your system or whatever needs to be done. But I thought we did a really good job of staying healthy," he added.
Cone's squad battled an undermanned TNT squad for four of their five games, with the latter's star Bobby Ray Parks sidelined after Game One.
Then the injuries compounded with seasoned veteran Jayson Castro missing out in the must-win Game Five. The sidelined stars resulted in other offensive weapons in Poy Erram and RR Pogoy playing heavy minutes and ended banged up from fatigue.
Cone reiterated the effort it took to keep themselves in top shape, even with the difficult grind of the PBA bubble.
"We had a good balance of work and rest and that led us all the way to the finals," Cone said.
"We always say in our time that our health is our weapon," he added.
It waxes poetic, then, that one of Cone's healthiest players in LA Tenorio was crowned Finals MVP in the only conference of the year.
Tenorio is a bastion of health and longetivity in the PBA, not having missed a single game in his 14-year-long PBA career.
The 36-year-old took home his first Philipine Cup championship on Wednesday while Cone, on the other hand, added on to his record collection as the winningest coach in the league with 23 titles to his name.
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