GINEBRA notched a milestone at the expense of Magnolia in the season-ending tilt’s “Manila Clasico” last Sunday night.
For Kings coach Tim Cone, the country’s most popular ballclub’s 100th win over the Hotshots over a 35-season rivalry should be largely credited to the team’s biggest legend–Robert Jaworski Sr.
“One hundred wins. I probably got more losses,” Cone said in jest. “But it’s been great to finally get that one. They (Hotshots) handled us pretty well over the last couple of three or four conferences, but it’s really sweet to come out and get that 100th.
“I think most of those wins are gonna go to Sonny Jaworski, not me. He’s been there battling those guys since the Alvin (Patrimonio), Jerry (Codiñera) (and) Dindo (Pumaren) era. It’s been a great rivalry. We looked forward to it,” he added.
Cone spoke after Ginebra essayed an 87-77 victory over Magnolia to get back on track in the PBA Philippine Cup.
The triumph carved out on Easter Sunday redeemed the Kings from an embarrassing 73-91 loss to the Meralco Bolts last March 15 before the pro league took an All-Star and Holy Week break.
The Hotshots, who came into the titanic duel armed with a 106-75 shellacking of the winless Converge FiberXers, slipped to 1-1.
“It’s a huge win. I think our confidence took a little bit of a hit when we played Meralco. We needed something to get us back going forward,” said Cone, whose squad that continued to miss former MVP Scottie Thompson (back) rose to 3-1 for joint third with NorthPort.
“This was truly an effort game for us, it wasn’t pretty, just a real good effort on defense.
We hit the ball hard, we got back well, all those effort things came out tonight, especially in the second half.”
Foremost among those who typified Ginebra’s desire to atone for their sorry defeat was Stanley Pringle, who scattered 17 points built on three three-pointers, on top of six assists, while Japeth Aguilar chipped in 16 markers, nine rebounds, and three dimes.
Maverick Ahanmisi also had 16 points, while Jamie Malonzo and Christian Standhardinger combined for 22 points.
“I just want to say I liked what our guys did. We came from that tough loss against Meralco. We were kind of embarrassed out there and they really showed that they care,” he said. “They care about their fans, they care about their performance, and they came in here and I thought they were really locked in.
