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‘We’ll go with what we have right now,’ says Tim Cone as Barangay Ginebra leads 2-1 against San Miguel in the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals
CAVITE, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone does not expect Jamie Malonzo and Isaac Go to return anytime soon even as the Gin Kings remain shorthanded in the thick of the PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs.
Malonzo has been out since April after sustaining a calf injury, while Go suffered a knee injury in September, further depleting the Ginebra frontline that is still reeling from the departure of star Christian Standhardinger.
The slew of injuries to key personnel, which includes Jeremiah Gray (knee), prompted the Gin Kings to bring Joe Devance out of retirement to address depth concerns.
“[Isaac] and Jamie are both still active in our lineup but we don’t expect either of them to be ready unless something miraculous happens. But we’ll go with what we have right now,” said Cone on Sunday, October 13.
Even in the face of injury setbacks, Ginebra has done a tremendous job against reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and San Miguel as the Gin Kings hold a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven semifinals.
That, according to Cone, would not be possible without Devance, who has been taking turns with Japeth Aguilar in containing the 6-foot-10 Fajardo.
Putting up 19.5 points, 18.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in the first two games of the series, Fajardo got limited to just 12 points and 14 rebounds with no assists in Game 3 as Ginebra hacked out a 99-94 win in Dasmariñas City.
“Without him, I don’t think that we would be here playing San Miguel the way we are,” Cone said of Devance.
“Obviously, there’s no one guy who can compete with June Mar for 48 minutes. There’s no one guy. As good as Japeth is, he can’t compete with him totally by himself.”
“[Japeth] needs to have breaks, he needs to have rest so he can be efficient against [June Mar],” Cone added. “These minutes that Joe is giving to Japeth is really crucial to how we’re doing it.”
Ginebra shoots for a 3-1 lead in Game 4 on Wednesday, October 16, at the Araneta Coliseum. – Rappler.com
