Once again, slow start dooms 5G

Stephen Holt (right) and Ginebra went on a hot start that Rey Nambatac and TNT could not overcome. —PBA IMAGES

The TNT Tropang 5G fully understand what it takes to beat Ginebra in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals—Game 3 of the best-of-seven series proved them right again.

But there’s a difference between knowing and doing something about it.

The Gin Kings went on another hot start and then fought off their opponents’ attempts to rally en route to a 2-1 series edge.

“That’s the biggest problem when you face Ginebra,” Roger Pogoy told the Inquirer after their 116-102 loss at Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday. “If they start strong and build a big lead, it’s hard to catch up, so you should stick to them to have a bigger chance of winning.”

According to Pogoy, once you allow Ginebra to go on those fast first-quarter starts, you basically dug your own grave.

And on Sunday, that’s what the Tropang 5G did. They fell behind, 35-16, after 12 minutes of action as Stephen Holt fueled the Ginebra’s burst with 15 of his 23 points coming in the first period.

Pogoy tried to rally TNT—he finished with 28 points—but the Tropang 5G couldn’t climb out of the early hole, which went as deep as 22 points at one point.

“We can’t afford to have Ginebra start like that. We’ve faced them a lot in the Finals, and it’s proven that every time they start well, they just keep on going,” Rey Nambatac said, echoing Pogoy’s sentiments.

“That’s the kind of lapses that we should minimize in Game 4 and this series. Hopefully, we find a way to adjust for that.”

After playing well in the first two games of the series, Nambatac was held scoreless in Game 3.

Much of his struggles came because he was in foul trouble early in the game. He finished with five fouls in a limited 17-minute performance. He was averaging 14.5 points per game before Game 3. INQ