Do your best and the best will come back to you.
Barangay Ginebra’s Gin Kings have probably done their best last Sunday and the result was a Game 4 win that moved them to within a win shy of winning it all on Wednesday.
“This is our best game of the series by far and, I think, the best game of the conference,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
Cone was referring to the 98-88 spanking of Talk ‘N Text’s Tropang Giga in Game 4 of their best-of-7 showdown for the PBA Philippine Cup at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center.
“We hit big shots all night, we made plays, we made defensive plays, held the lead for the most part and then they made their big run. But I felt we played well tonight,” said Cone, visibly impressed with the way the Gin Kings handled the Tropang Giga all night-long, after a well-deserved rest on Saturday.
The Gin Kings were coming off an 88-67 loss in Game 3 two days earlier.
As a result of the Gin Kings’ 21-point blowout loss, a series sweep which everybody had been anticipating quickly vanished, and the Tropang Giga at the same time avoided falling into a 0-3 hole.
As fatigue could be a tough enemy for anyone, more so if you’re playing inside a ‘bubble,’ the Gin Kings opted not to hold any practice sessions on Saturday after the stinging loss Friday.
The main reason cited by the Ginebra coaching staff was to afford the Gin Kings a rest longer than usual, thereby revitalizing their weary legs. They only held light workouts in the morning of Sunday, putting their plays and strategies in motion during practice. The game, after all, was happening on the evening.
The approach has apparently worked well for the Gin Kings.
“I just felt we played well in the first quarter and then we looked tired going into the second and tired for the rest of the game,” said Cone in explaining the decision to give the Gin Kings a full rest day on Saturday. “We just decided to give them an extra time off.”
