Make or break for Dragons
BARANGAY Ginebra gets the first of two opportunities to capture the coveted PBA Commissioner’s Cup when it meets Bay Area Dragons anew in Game 6 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven championship series, the Kings hope to finish off the injury-hit Dragons in their 5:45 p.m. encounter that is expected to attract another record crowd at the Big Dome.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone and the Kings know the Hong Kong-based Dragons would be a very dangerous opponent should the series come down to a deciding Game 7 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan on Friday.
Unlike in Game 5 when Bay Area missed both NBA veteran Andrew Nicholson and forward Glenn Yang, the Dragons are expected to be a much different team with the re-entry of their other high-scoring import, Myles Powell.
Powell is expected to take up the scoring load for the Dragons in lieu of Anderson, who is still injured.
Yang’s status, however, remains uncertain, according to team officials.
Cone said Yang’s absence was the key in Ginebra’s 101-91 victory over Bay Area in Sunday’s Game 5.
”We’re surprised Glen would not play, and that was a bonus for us, knowing Nicholson is out. Glen is a good point guard,” said Cone, whose team Ginebra is hoping to break a tie with Magnolia and Alaska as the league’s second most winningest team with 15 championships behind San Miguel Beer.
“Last time, we didn’t have a direction on who to defend as we’re prepared for Nicholson. Today was different as we had a scheme for Kobey Lam and we had a scheme for big Liu,” added Cone, who is also gunning for his seventh title with Ginebra in the last seven years.
Cone claimed different players are taking charge for the Dragons in each of the first five games — from Nicholson, Yang, Kobey Lam, Hayden Blankley to Qilong Zheng.
He described as a “talented, well-disciplined, well-coached bunch that could be very dangerous given a new lease on life.
The results:
Game 1 –Ginebra 96, Bay Area 81.
Game 2 –Bay Area 99, Ginebra 82.
Game 3 –Ginebra 89, Bay Area 82
Game 4–Bay Area 94, Ginebra 86.
Game 5– Ginebra 101, Bay Area 91
(Ginebra leads best-of-seven series, 3-2).