Tropa eye 2-0 cushion vs Kings

MANILA, Philippines — Pitted against a rival who lives by the mantra “never say die,” TNT could sense the Ginebra fightback that awaits in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals tonight.

The Tropang Giga turned in a masterclass shooting and defensive performance in winning Friday’s opener, 95-89. They were in control virtually all game long, leading by as many as 18 points, but the Gin Kings refused to quit and even made Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Co. sweat it out in the homestretch.

“It takes a lot to do that. Being down in big games, some teams give up but not those guys,” Hollis-Jefferson noted post-Game 1.

“But that’s what we’re all here to do – to play hard and to win basketball games. And like we’ve been saying, it’s ‘next-man-up’ for us and being ready. We definitely could have used (injured veteran) Jayson (Castro) at the end but we got the job now.”

Ginebra doesn’t have a monopoly on resilience and no-quit mentality, stressed RHJ, whose team looks to strike again at 7:30 p.m. at the MOA Arena and make it 2-0 in the race-to-four dispute.

“I’ll say the good thing about it is it’s two-sided. We’re thinking the same way. We want to win every game, we want to compete at the highest level. If we were in their situation (trailing big),  I’m pretty sure our guys would fight back. At the end of the day, you want to be able to believe in your guys to never give up and to keep going until the end of the game,” said the two-time Best Import.

“We got Game 1 and now it’s about focusing on the next game and doing what we have to do to be better, to not let the lead drop, to not let our mental lapses take over the game. So it’s about getting better,” he added.

Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted TNT counterpart Chot Reyes and the Tropang Giga were the better ones in Game 1 and stressed the need to reverse it quickly.

“It’s not what we wanted but we’ll deal with it and we’ll move forward,” said Cone, whose squad is seeking payback after losing their two previous Governors’ Cup title duels.

“I’m getting kind of tired of saying we were outplayed and outcoached so we got to change the narrative,” he added.

Notes: While recovering from the full thickness patellar tendon tear in his right knee he sustained in the semifinals, TNT playmaker Jayson Castro gave his teammates inspiring words ahead of the title rematch with Ginebra. He relayed it to RR Pogoy, who led a small group who visited him at home. “Sabi niya,  ‘Ger, sabihan mo mga boys na huwag kayo matakot maglaro, laruin ninyo lang and laro ninyo. Kahit wala si Kuya Jayson ninyo, kaya ninyo ‘yan,” shared Pogoy, who went on to rifle in five of TNT’s 14 triples in their opening victory.