MANILA – Being the No. 1 in the rankings heading into the PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs adds more pressure on two-time defending champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.
There is nothing special with the Kings getting the top seed and having a twice-to-beat incentive, according to head coach Tim Cone. “It’s just pogi points at this point.”
The Kings could potentially face either TNT KaTropa or two-time Governors’ Cup runner-up Meralco Bolts in the quarterfinals.
But Cone acknowledged that “getting the number one seed, you don’t get an advantage over the No. 4 and the bottom-four teams – you don’t want to face any of them.”
“I’ve been there, being the No. 1 seed,” he added. “Oftentimes there is a lot of extra pressure because the expectations go up.”
Cone could not forget the horrors of the 2011-2012 Philippine Cup where his team, the No. 1-seeded Purefoods, got knocked off by the No. 8 Powerade in their quarterfinal series.
“If they (Meralco) can get Ranidel (de Ocampo) back, they can sneak into the top eight,” said Cone. “TNT right now is the leading candidate down there, but you don’t want to play them in a twice-to-beat either.”
But “what choices do you have?” he added. “It’s too easy to say, ‘I want to be No. 1 so that I can play the eighth seed.’ But in our league, one through eight, you don’t want to play anybody.”
The Kings were set to clinch the No. 1 spot with its 8-2 win-loss slate regardless of the outcome of their final elimination round match against TNT KaTropa on Nov. 4./PN
