Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone has never been a fan of taking it easy on non-bearing games, and that showed once more when the team went to the limit against Columbian on Sunday in the 2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup.
Already assured of the fourth seed regardless of the result against the eliminated Dyip, the Kings still came out with playoff intensity to eke out a 127-123 win in overtime.
"I just believed momentum and effort should be out there all the time, and that's why through history I've asked my teams to play hard in non-bearing games. That's a philosophy I have," Cone said after the game.
"It was a choice between just going out and playing the game hard and keeping our momentum or sitting guys out and keeping them healthy. The concern is you lose somebody in a game like this and that's gonna hurt you in the playoffs. But luckily everybody came through OK."
Ginebra entered the game looking to polish its man-to-man offense and continue integrating Stanley Pringle into the system. Instead it became a golden opportunity to work against a zone defense, one of their longstanding weaknesses. As Columbian forced the Kings to let it fly from outside, Ginebra responded by draining 11-of-33 threes.
"They zoned us all game long. Basically 48 minutes in zone, which gave us a lot of practice on our zone offense. That was good for us. Good to know that we can play against zone and still score a lot of points against zone," said Cone.
This is important for Ginebra, who continue to be one of the most apprehensive teams from downtown. While the team is making triples at a top-four rate (34 percent), the Kings don't take a lot of those and are bottom-three in attempts this conference at 25.3 per game, just ahead of Alaska and Magnolia.
"We didn't get to play a lot of our offense today because, again, they were in zone the whole time," Cone noted. "But in the meantime, we got to work a lot with zone, which has been an Achilles' heel for us. But we're getting better and better at it."
Aside from trying to combat the zone, Cone also said that they made sure everyone fit within their roles since they'll be taking a week off in preparation for the quarterfinals.
"We're just continuing to figure out where everybody is in terms of roles. That's still something we're searching," Cone said. "We won't play until [Saturday] so we really needed a game like this to prepare."
The Kings are set for an early collision course against either Magnolia or San Miguel. A clash against a heavyweight in the first round isn't normally ideal for most teams, but Cone says they'll head into any possible matchup with the same approach they've had before.
"Whatever happens, happens. Wherever the chips may fall, we deal with what we have in front of us," said Cone. "It doesn't matter who we play. Sometimes it's better to get the really good teams early and if you get the chance, move on. They're gonna be thinking the same thing about us."