THE quest to end its eight-year title drought is very much alive for Barangay Ginebra.
The Gin Kings are now in a good position to finally quench their championship thirst after making the finals for the first time in three years.
First year Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who is now remarkably in his 30th finals appearance as a PBA tactician, is jubilant that in his maiden season with the Gin Kings, they were already able to make the finals even without injured star big man Greg Slaughter at the helm.
“It’s just surreal. It’s really an incredible team-effort on our part to get to the finals and beat a very talented team in the semifinals,” said Cone, who is now bound to shoot for his 19th title and first with Ginebra. “We’ve been learning a lot in this journey and I’m just glad we’re in the finals and we were able to make it despite some odds.”
Without Slaughter manning the middle for Ginebra, defending champion San Miguel Beer was favored against the Gin Kings coming in their best-of-five semifinals series.
However, Barangay Ginebra was able to defy the odds to enter the finals via a 3-2 edging of the Beermen in a thrilling showdown.
Moreover, Ginebra impressively dethroned San Miguel in the knockout Game 5 last Tuesday night, taking a dominant 117-92 victory.
Looking ahead, the obstacle that now stands in the way of Ginebra and its championship aspirations is Meralco, an upstart team in its finals appearance, a hungry squad that finally got over the hump as it continues to mature. Jeric Lopez
“We’re savoring this accomplishment, but we all know this is not yet our ultimate goal. We now have to prepare and be at our best to get the championship that we’ve been chasing,” said Cone. “We have Meralco ahead and we really need to prepare well for that.”
The finals start tomorrow with Game 1 slated at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Both Meralco and Ginebra took similar paths to the finals, both taking out the top seeds of the tournament and pulling off incredible upsets to set up their titular clash.
Ginebra last made the finals in the 2013 season’s Commissioner’s Cup wherein it got swept by Alaska.
