The wrath of Typhoon Ulysses on Thursday also hampered Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's preparations heading into Game 1 of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
Due to the large volume of rain the storm unleashed when it went over Luzon, the practice court at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center was deemed unusable for practice. Electricity was down, while the mist and raindrops found their way to the court, making it slippery and unfit for running a scrimmage.
Instead, Ginebra's players focused within in order to lock themselves in for Friday evening's contest.
"So there wasn't really anything we could do on the court, we walked through some techniques that we wanted to do defensively and most of the preparations were mental," Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said.
Those mental gymnastics were a big part in Ginebra's 81-73 victory against eighth-seeded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, which sent them to the semifinals.
With the outcome of the contest still in doubt with less than five minutes to go, the Elasto Painters crept within one, after a one-handed bank shot by James Yap, 72-71. Following that basket, the shots came falling down for Ginebra, as they ventured on a 9-0 run in the closing stretch, as LA Tenorio's booming triple from the left flank virtually sealed the deal with 55.7 ticks to go, 81-71.
Stanley Pringle, the team's leading scorer at 18.7 points per contest, was being shut down by the defense, but stepped up when it mattered most, as he sparked the game-sealing run.
"We put the ball on his hands down the stretch and we expect him to close for us. We're not going to force that every possession because he gets too exhausted and the defense gets too predictable," Cone said. "But down the stretch, we're going to try to find a way to get him free and allow him to do his thing and that is what he did. If I may just say, we came into this game expecting to grind it out and that was exactly what we got."
In a close game where no team led by double-digits until the last minute, Rain or Shine was able to erect a 27-20 lead in the second quarter after a triple by Adrian Wong. Ginebra answered with a 10-2 run to retake the lead, 30-29, after a layup by Japeth Aguilar. Ginebra would remain on top, 40-37, at intermission.
After halftime, the teams seemed to struggle in scoring as the two squads each missed to score 20 points, with the Gin Kings outscoring the Elasto Painters 19-18, to take a 59-55 edge heading to the fourth.
Ginebra was able to establish a 61-55 lead in the early moments of the payoff period, but Rey Nambatac managed to tie it off an and-one opportunity.
After an exchange of baskets which led to a 63-all deadlock with 8:25 remaining, Tenorio swished a triple that broke the tie and gave Ginebra the lead that it would not relinquish until the end.
Aguilar scored 23 points and pulled in 11 rebounds for Ginebra, while Prince Caperal and Aljon Mariano chipped in 11 apiece. Tenorio posted 8 markers and 8 assists.
Rain or Shine leaned on Mark Borboran's 13-point effort. Javee Mocon contributed 12 points and hauled in 6 boards.
Cone also praised his counterpart Garcia for putting in a game plan that stifled their usually explosive offense.
"Rain or Shine is really, really good. They're a tough grind out team and one of the things we talked about is we're going to go play some old style Ginebra basketball," recalled the veteran tactician.
THE SCORES
Ginebra (81) -- J. Aguilar 23, Caperal 11, Mariano 11, Pringle 10, Tenorio 8, Thompson 7, Dillinger 4, Devance 4, Chan 3, Salado 0, Tolentino 0, Dela Cruz 0, R. Aguilar 0, Caguioa 0, Balanza 0.
Rain or Shine (73) -- Borboran 13, Mocon 12, Nambatac 10, Belga 9, Yap 8, Onwubere 6, Wong 6, Ponferada 5, Rosales 2, Arana 2, Norwood 0, Rivero 0, Tolentino 0, Doliguez 0, Torres 0.
Quarter Scores: 20-22, 40-37, 59-55, 81-73.
EXTRA DRIBBLES
- LA Tenorio became the 11th player in league history to reach the 3,000 career assists club. He dished the historic dime to Japeth Aguilar at the 3:55 mark of the second quarter. He is the second active player behind San Miguel's Alex Cabagnot to reach the mark.
- Ginebra awaits the victor of the (4) San Miguel-(5) Meralco series. The semifinals will start on Wednesday, Nov. 18.