IT"S always nice to have the lead in a series.
Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone acknowledges that - some gap, leverage or even jump-off point from which they can push their bid forward.
Or accelerate momentum.
The Gin Kings have a mountain to climb versus the San Miguel Beermen and they definitely need all the early advantages they can get in what could be a long, tough grind in their side of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Last Four.
Japeth Aguilar and his teammates eye a follow-up on their 73-71 steal on Wednesday as they tangle with the Beermen in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Friday over at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
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"The good news is we battled," said Cone in the post-game presser after their Game 1 victory carved out from a fightback from a deficit as big as 18.
"We didn't play great, we didn't shoot great, we didn't even really defend that great but we found a way," Cone added. "But it's only one game and we got to be playing better than this as the series goes for us to have a chance."
The league's winningest coach believes dragging June Mar Fajardo and Co. to a low-scoring battle - as they did Wednesday - is where they have their best chance at beating the mighty Beermen.
In the series kickoff, things turned a bit easier for the Kings with the Beermen losing their shooting touch.
San Miguel struggled with a 32.1-percent clip on the way to scoring just 71 points - the lowest for the team in the conference.
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JMF, averaging 17.6 points, bled for just six in his first single-digit outing in the tourney.
However, the eight-time MVP awardee is likely to rebound big time in Game 2, and that's a big concern for Cone.
The Beermen blew away Game 1 on a woeful 26-81 field clip. CJ Perez was 8-of-21, Juami Tiongson 5-of-15, Fajardo 3-of-10, Marcio Lassiter 1-of-6 and Rodney Brondial 0-of-4. The SMB back-up crew didn't do any better.
However, the whole SMB team is likely to return with a vengeance. And the Kings are bracing for battle.(SB)
