Ginebra faces ‘tough mountain to climb’ vs Boatwright, San Miguel

MANILA, Philippines—After dispatching NorthPort in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals on Friday night, Ginebra coach Tim Cone seemed worried than relieved.

Cone has reasons to be concerned with the Gin Kings’ impending semifinals showdown against the San Miguel Beermen, particularly Bennie Boatwright and June Mar Fajardo.

“I do know that Bennie Boatwright is a tremendous import and anytime you have that kind of guy to match with June Mar, it’s a tough mountain to climb. They’re scoring in bunches and a lot of points and they’re really dictating the game,” said Cone after Ginebra eliminated NorthPort, 106-93, on Friday at Philsports Arena.

“Bennie Boatwright is like Arwind Santos times two, five or even 10. That’s what makes June Mar so great oftentimes through those years was having Arwind sitting on top and keeping defenses honest. It’s a dilemma that I think all teams have to figure out and we have to figure out. If we can’t, we won’t win this series.”

Bannered by Boatwright, the Beermen proved to be a tough nut to crack for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in a 127-122 victory that clinched them a spot in the semis on Friday.

Boatwright dominated with 41 points on 17-of-28 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds while Fajardo had a quiet double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds on top of five assists, four steals and a block.

“We’re just going to have to try and find a way to make them uncomfortable and try to do it in three games, that’s really the bottom line for us. We have a couple days to really sink our teeth into them and figure out how we want to proceed.”

Ginebra forward Jamie Malonzo, who finished with 21 points and seven rebounds, is also bracing for a “hell of a series” against San Miguel Beer which begins on Wednesday.

“They’re tough. They got Bennie and he can score 50 at any given night. They’re really tough, we’re not taking them for granted and we know it’s gonna be a hell of a series—basically, a championship-level series,” said Malonzo.

But if there’s one team that could somehow match the Beermen’s size upfront, it’s the Gin Kings, who have the likes of Christian Standhardinger, Tony Bishop and Japeth Aguilar.

Bishop and Standhardinger gave the Batang Pier fits with all-around performances. Bishop collected 31 points,15 rebounds and four assists while Standhardinger, the Best Player of the Conference frontrunner, posted 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.