Cebuano big man Slaughter says Ginebra should be patient with Cone’s new system
As the saying goes, Rome was not built in a day. The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings recently found this out for themselves.
Though possessing an awesome lineup of firepower which has one of the greatest coaches in league history presiding over them, Cebuano big man Greg Slaughter stressed the importance of patience as the team tries to get their heads around the daunting triangle offense of legendary Tim Cone.
PBA / October 25,2015
Greg Slaughter of Ginebra grabs the ball from Rafi Reavis and Alex Mallari of Star Hot shots , at the Smart Araneta .
INQUIRER PHOTO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ
“The new system will take time. We’ve only been executing it for two months and this was our first game versus a team that’s won five championships with it,” said the former University of the Visayas stalwart in an exclusive talk with Cebu Daily News yesterday morning.
Slaughter, who made the transfer from UV to Ateneo, had quite the season debut with 28 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in 78-86 loss to the Purefoods Star Hotshots in their marquee match-up on Sunday.
Slaughter said their slow start ultimately did them in as the Hotshots’ 31-point lead proved to be too steep a climb in spite of his and Japeth Aguilar’s best efforts. Aguilar was the team’s other double-digit scorer with 26 markers and 16 boards.
“I think we had a bad start and the Star Hotshots jumped on us right away hard and didn’t let up. I think we had a better performance in the second half but the lead they had set up was insurmountable at that point. When we tried getting back, they always hit timely three’s,” shared the 7-footer of Alex Mallari and Mark Barroca’s backbreaking triples down the stretch that helped raise the lead back to 19 in the last five minutes of the match.
Still, with Cone at the helm of this largely underachieving bunch, Slaughter said he will do whatever the latter asks of him, for the betterment of the squad.
“You know I’m going to do whatever it is coach Tim (Cone) wants me to do because he’s just one of the greatest, if not the greatest coach in the Philippines. I trust in him and trust in the process,” said the Bisaya-speaking big man.
Slaughter said that in spite of the loss, he expects big things out of the Gin Kings especially with the presence of rookie wingman, Scottie Thompson, who showed veteran chops with an all-around line of five points, six assists, three boards and two steals in just 16 minutes.
“Scottie (Thompson) is a talent. He’s Bisaya, so no surprise,” said Slaughter with a grin. “But seriously, I think he will have a faster transition to the pros than most. I’m excited to watch and play with him through the years.”
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