The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is scheduled for a Game 2 Semi-Finals head-to-head match against the San Miguel Beermen at 6:45 PM on March 26, 2023 live from the Ynares Center at Antipolo City, Rizal.
The Gin Kings are looking to make a repeat and put their opponent in a desperate situation as the series progress while the Beermen wanted to do a quick bounce-back victory and even the series and reduce it to a best-of-three showdown.
Basketball fans are eagerly anticipating the game between Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer at the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals. The Gin Kings are determined to push San Miguel on the brink, come out with more consistency, and avoid falling into a 0-2 hole. To win, they must solve the major flaw in their defense, which is containing Christian Standhardinger.
At the start of the best-of-five series last Friday, Ginebra won 121-112, and Standhardinger’s outstanding performance prompted Coach Tim Cone to describe him as the Kings’ lynchpin. “Christian’s just been playing great. He’s been making the right reads, making the right rolls for his teammates. Because of that, it opens up the perimeter for us, and Jamie and Justin (Brownlee) and Scottie (Thompson) were able to get their shots.”
However, the Kings must still work on their defense and avoid bad stretches when they play flat. According to Cone, “This team is too good. If it was an even game and you lose your concentration… blink your eyes, and they can be up 10, 15 in a moment’s notice. Luckily it happened when we were up by 20 so were still able to recover.”
Meanwhile, Ginebra’s veteran playmaker LA Tenorio has been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Despite his health condition, the 38-year-old Tenorio continues to show up in Ginebra practices and even volunteered to join Cone’s coaching staff for the moment as he’s set to undergo chemotherapy next month. The Gin Kings are looking to repay Tenorio for his gesture by retaining the PBA Governors Cup championship. Cone said, “It can be kind of corny that we’re doing this for LA. Of course, we’re doing this for LA, and it don’t need to be said, and I don’t think it needs to be repeated. He honors us with his presence. Hopefully, we can honor him by continuing to play hard and playing his image.”
Related: Ginebra versus San Miguel Game 3 | 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup
The defending champions drew inspiration from Tenorio’s presence, and Gin Kings Christian Standhardinger, Jamie Malonzo, and Justin Brownlee played the hardest. They were spurred on by the mere presence of Tenorio, who still showed up and offered words of encouragement to his team from the sidelines despite an ongoing battle with colon cancer. The Gin Kings hope to keep pushing and keep playing the best defense they can play to win the game.
San Miguel Beer must improve its defense and contain Standhardinger to beat Ginebra in Game 2. Standhardinger warned, “You never can count them out. So I think that’s the big lesson that we need to get out of it and that is to keep pushing and keep playing the best defense we can play.”
The upcoming game between Ginebra and San Miguel Beer promises to be exciting, and fans are eager to see how the teams will perform. As Cone said, “This is what we live for. This is what we work for. This is what we do it for, and that’s to play in these situations.”