Pringle, C-Stan team up for Ginebra in trouncing Blackwater

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel bounced back from a lethargic showing against NLEX to score their opening win of the PBA Philippine Cup when they took down Blackwater, 96-81 in first of the Friday’s doubleheaders at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Coming off a sluggish defeat to the Road Warriors, the Gin Kings of Tim Cone got their groove early on and coasted in a wire-to-wire victory, in which they denied the Bossing even just a second in tying the contest.

Still, the two-time Grand Slam winning mentor admitted that they have more to work on ahead of their tiff with his former employers Magnolia, where they lost their most recent encounter last season in the Clark Bubble.

“It wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure. We haven’t put together any pretty basketball yet,” Cone admitted.

“We’re still working on more coherent and more together on our play right now.”

Balanced scoring became the name of the game when six Ginebra players scored in double figures, with guard Stanley Pringle leading them with 19 points, while LA Tenorio pitched in 17 markers and dropped seven assists (en route to a plus-minus of 21) to make good use of the passing game in which they nearly doubled the Bossing’s dimes (25-13) all game long.

New addition Christian Standhardinger improved on his first game struggle as he put up his first Ginebra double-double with 11 points and hauled down all but four of his game-high 19 boards on the defensive end.

Cone added that it was a relief seeing an improved side, especially to their new signing, who was recently acquired in a swap with Greg Slaughter, had been limited to just eight points in their loss to NLEX last June 18.

“We got Christian [Standhardinger] late in the preparation phase” he later said. “So we never really had a chance to really get him integrated solely into what we do. So he’s oftentimes guessing out there. And when you guess, you have a tendency to be tentative in your play.”

Apart from shooting 47% from the field compared to Blackwater’s 38%, rebounding was the one stat that the defending All-Filipino titlists that they clearly dominate when they had a 60-34 advantage over Blackwater, nearly a third of which came from the former NorthPort slotman.

However, concerns are aplenty ahead of their Sunday Clasico for the Never Say Die outfit as Blackwater got to within a pair early in the final frame after trailing by as much as seventeen late in the second period, when a Japeth Aguilar (14pts, 75% FG) bucket gave Ginebra a 45-28 lead before settling for a 13-point cushion at the break.

Pringle said after the game, “It was pretty rough. I think we’re trying to get back to how it was planned.”

“We’re focusing on improving on our defense. We’re just following the coaches’ guidelines.”

The Bossing’s second unit outscored Ginebra by a dozen thanks to Mike Tolomia's game-high 22 despite Prince Caperal’s sixteen points (and 11 rebounds for a double-double), and then pounced on the Kings’ 21 turnovers for 17 points off it.

But they could not find another shot to put them even at least, with the Kings dropping a 10-0 closer late in the contest to put them in the cellar by condemning them to the bottom with their third straight defeat.

The scores:

BARANGAY GINEBRA 96 – Pringle 19, Tenorio 17, Caperal 16, J. Aguilar 14, Standhardinger 11, Thompson 11, Chan 5, Dillinger 2, Devance 1, Ayaay 0, Enriquez 0, Holmqvist 0

BLACKWATER 81 – Tolomia 22, Enciso 16, Nabong 10, Magat 9, Daquioag 6, Desiderio 6, Amer 5, Paras 4, Canaleta 2, Semerad 2, Dennison 0, Torralba 0, Escoto 0, Gabriel 0, Acuño 0

QUARTER SCORES: 21-13, 45-32, 69-67, 96-81
PHOTOS: PBA