The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is scheduled for a head-to-head game against the Talk ‘N Text KaTropa Texters at 7:00 P.M. on June 13, 2017 in Mall of Asia Arena.
The strength of Joshua Smith helped TNT to take Game 1 and lots of adjustment needs to be done from the Gin Kings side to stop the man known as the “Jumbotron”.
It’s apparent that the story of the first game of Ginebra and TNT was all about KaTropa’s mammoth import.
However, during the first quarter when he was still on the bench, it was Roger Pogoy sparked the run where he scored 10 points.
Six points of those came from behind the three-point distance. He also acted as the fireman in the fourth where he sank another three-pointer to ice Barangay Ginebra run.
Related: PBA Results: TNT Took A Commanding 2-0 Lead Against Barangay Ginebra
Then with less than a minute in the final quarter, Jayson Castro made his first basket from the three-point land and sealed the game.
Despite of its big win, Talk ‘N Text coach Nash Racela is anticipating a major adjustment coming from Gin Kings head coach.
“People talk about coach Tim Cone every time there’s a playoff series,” was how Racela started his explanation.
“The only reason why they talk about coach Tim is because he’s a master tactician. So (there will be) a lot of adjustments sa Game 2. But of course we hope that Joshua will continue to play the same.”
Joshua Smith finished the game with 35 points and 13 rebounds. Most of his points came from offensive rebounds.
Coach Tim Cone utilized Japeth Aguilar, Joe Devance, Dave Marcelo and there were few times we’ve seen Justin Brownlee guarding the 330 lbs TNT center.
“Not only is he heavy, he’s wide talaga,” said Japeth Aguilar.
“He’s a dominant force in the paint, so we have to do something different,” Brownlee said.
“He’s big and tall and wide. He had a good game today. I thought we played a good first half on him,” said Devance. “I think he just found his rhythm and figured out how we have been guarding him.”