MANILA, Philippines — With only a few practices to boot given their Gilas Pilipinas duties, Barangay Ginebra struggled all throughout its debut game in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Sunday.
The Gin Kings shot just 32.6 percent (30-of-92), while RJ Abarrientos had little impact in the game, scoring only eight points on 3-of-16 shooting.
The result was a 78-81 loss to upstart Phoenix.
Coach Tim Cone can’t hide his displeasure over the flat start of Ginebra, which also didn’t have injured Scottie Thompson and long-time import Justin Brownlee.
“It was a difficult night altogether. I’m very frustrated,” Cone said after the game. “Bottom line is we didn’t play well.” The American mentor shared that he, along with Abarrientos and veteran forward Troy Rosario had three practice sessions only since they were part of Gilas that played in the recent Window 3 of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
“RJ and Troy only had three practices with us before we played tonight. I came back with only three practices,” shared Cone, who ahortly after the Asian Qualifiers, went to the Las Vegas Summer League, where he also got to personally handpick Brownlee’s temporary replacement Riley Grigsby.
The 26-year-old Grigsby carried the scoring cudgels for Ginebra, finishing with a game-high 42 points and 13 rebounds.
Still, being just the first game, Cone believes the Gin Kings are bound to get better, especially when they return to action on Friday against streaking Blackwater Bossing.
The Bossing won their first two games after beating the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 101-78 followed by an 89-81 win over the Magnolia Hotshots.
