Ginebra's new offense

Holding it down
(Photo credit: Sports5.ph)

No, it's not the Triangle.

Coach Tim Cone and his wards have found life after their PBA Governor's Cup championship (and import Justin Brownlee), not to mention while playing minus franchise center 7"0 Greg Slaughter, by going against the current flow of the PBA game. While other teams have embraced a high-scoring approach with scores breaking the century mark, Ginebra has taken a more defensive stand anchored on efficiency.

The team currently leads the league per game in: points allowed at 84 ppg (vs 86 ppg for them); 2-pt field goal percentage at 37%; and assists at 23. Ginebra has also made a conscious effort in not falling in love with the three-ball, taking a league-last 18 attempts per game (though you could argue that it's merely because they do not have the specialists at the moment to do so).

Leading the charge is Japeth Aguilar 33mpg 19ppg 9rpg who appears to have matured into the player that just about everyone wants him to be. He is ably supported by Joe DeVance 33/12/6/4, L.A. Tenorio 32/12/4/5, Scottie Thompson 8/11/6 and Sol Mercado 25/7/3/3. If you take a closer look, that's 18 assists spread out among JDV and the three guards right there which makes the game a lot easier for everyone else.

As a longtime PBA fan, we have always said that the make-up of Ginebra in the last three to four years were "finisher-heavy" with maybe one or two creators here and there. Former PBA MVP Mark Caguioa is a creator, as is Tenorio, but everything used to fall apart when Caguioa would get hurt/ simply get older and Tenorio, exhausted.

Nowadays, thanks to the entry of DeVance and Thompson, the ball continues to move and guys are able to take the shots that they are comfortable with. Chris Ellis no longer freelances which maxmizes his efficiency on the court, and bigs like Jervy Cruz and Dave Marcel are not asked to do anything outside of their comfort zones.

For all the talk about how Coach Tim retro-fitted his famed Tex Winter-inherited Triangle Offense to accommodate his players, perhaps it is time that we really focused on Cone's "other" true genius: as a defensive tactician who knows how and where to "hide" his players (in case you doubt our claim, see how effective 2x PBA MVP James Yap was under Cone versus, Jason Webb and the rest).

That being said, Ginebra is definitely a contender and could possibly continue building on that promised "Dynasty" of theirs if you are a firm believer of "defense wins championships."

Even if they only play mostly on Sundays.