0-3 start. What happened to the Never Say Die attitude of the Gin Kings? A lot of questions are being raised asking what the hell is wrong with the team, where are the contributions of JJ Helterbrand and Kerby Raymundo? Can Mark Caguioa carry the team on his own? Will Vernon Macklin be the right guy for the struggling Ginebra?
Vernon Macklin was the 2nd round 52nd overall pick and was drafted by Detroit Pistons before flying to the Philippines to play for the Brgy. Ginebra, he played for Rio Grande Valley Vipers on NBA D-League. The pressure was definitely on Macklin to deliver right away especially that the team has yet to win a game.
Alaska took advantage of Macklin who is still adjusting to the system of Ginebra and won their fourth straight game via a 84-69 win against the Kings. Once again, Mark "The Spark" Caguioa led the team with 20 big points while Vernon Macklin scored 16 points on his first game as a Ginebra player.
Both the efforts of Mark Caguioa and Vernon Macklin were not enough to get Ginebra on the win column. They now find themselves at the rock bottom of the team standings.
As for the fans, they would like to believe that when you're down there is no other way but to go up. Will this be the start for the return of Ginebra? Is it too late?
Finally! Ginebra breaks into the win column and they did it convincingly against the Barako Bull. All the frustrations and desperation showed on that game as they gave the Barako Bull their second loss. Mark Caguioa continues to lead the team with 23 big points while Vernon Macklin performed better with 21 points. He was felt more in the game. Ginebra also got big support from Baracael, Tenorio and Ellis.
Everyone thought that this will be the start of the late run that all Ginebra fans have been waiting for but the surging Rain Or Shine team have a different plan. It was a very close game but at the end Ginebra bowed to Rain Or Shine with the score 96-93. It was the combination of Belga and Lee on the end time that caused trouble for the Kings. For the first time in 6 games, another player led scoring in behalf of Caguioa. Macklin scored 27 big points while Caguioa still led the locals with 18 points and got their 1-5 standing. And Ginebra's back at the end of the standings.
Ginebra's next game was against SMC Mixers and probably one of the most anticipated games of the whole conference. Manila Clasico as they fondly called it. And what a way for Ginebra to get their 2nd win, and this came in a very needed situation. Ginebra played as if its their last game. They deserved that win and the fans surely enjoyed that game. Nothing beats a Manila Clasico game!
#ManilaClasico
Ginebra doesn't want this to become another 1 game win so after winning against San Mig Mixers, they cruised their way to win against a very strong and complete team of Talk And Text. Mark Caguioa proved once more why he is the heart and soul of the whole Brgy. Ginebra community by winning via 107-100. Caguioa scored 28 points and provided couple of assists and rebounds to lead Ginebra get their 3rd game and their second straight. There's no team that can stop Ginebra as of this moment. Ginebra continued to perform better and better each game, on their game against Meralco Bolts they looked good by giving a 21-lead but at the end, Meralco gave Ginebra a run for their money by coming back and almost stole this game against the Kings.
A win is a win as what Coach Alfrancis Chua said but Mark Caguioa went down on the last 3 minutes of the game and never returned. It was very alarming since Mark Caguioa has been leading the team from the very start even though they are down. Caguioa was the only consistent player for Ginebra. It was later determined that Caguioa suffered a sprain MCL and have to rest for a couple of weeks.
The bench knew that they have to step up and that's what they did against Barako Bull. No Caguioa proved to be no problem for Ginebra as veteran LA Tenorio went to play his old role on his former team. He scored big and boosted a 27 point performance, his first as a Ginebra player while Macklin and Raymundo provided 33 and 10. Ginebra is now at 5-5.
Will the No Caguioa, No problem continue to work?
(Photo credits to Google. Thank You!)
Keep the Faith.
Paolo
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