THE moves Barangay Ginebra San Miguel made the last two seasons have started to reap fruits.
Mark Caguioa and some new Kings all left their indelible print in a 110-90 win over GlobalPort Sunday in the opening game of the PBA Philippine Cup before a mammoth crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Caguioa struck the hardest in the second half, LA Tenorio and two electrifying rookies made ample contributions and Rico Maierhofer made some key baskets of his own, helping the Kings fend off a last-ditch uprising by the league's newest member.
Maierhofer's two putbacks proved crucial in the stretch as Ginebra recovered its composure in the face of a torrid GlobalPort fightback that brought the latter back from 24 points down to within 86-94, still 5:10 left.
Then Tenorio capped his sterling debut in a Kings uniform with a couple of his gamehigh 10 assists and two of his nine rebounds that pointed the Kings to the victory before a mammoth opening day crowd.
"I'm happy we got over this game," said Ginebra coacgh Siot Tanquingcen. "Alam n'yo na, opening day, somehow maraming distractions. We had to get off on the right foot and we did."
Caguioa wound up with a teamhigh 18 points after scoring 13 in the last 24 minutes of play with Maierhofer, acquired from B-Meg prior to last season, chipping in 14 points to go with 11 boards.
"Rico, he's starting to take more of the load, taking a bigger role dito," noted Tanquingcen. "It's crucial. That's the main reason na kahit medyo injured siya last year kinuha pa rin namin siya. That's what we were foreseeing and tonight he validated our trust in him."
Not to be outdone was Tenorio, whose feeds were the highest by a Ginebra in the last four years and more than atoned for him finishing with only two points on 1-for-6 field shooting.
Willie Miller scored a gamehigh 26 points but Gary David was limited to just nine points, six of them from the stripe, as GlobalPort got a rude welcome in its league debut.
Some promise was showed by the Batang Pier when rookie AJ Mandani and Miller conspired to lead the Batang Pier back from a 47-71 deficit. David capped the uprising with a pull-up triple, his lone basket, but that was the closest they would get.
It was almost a stunning turn of events for the Kings, who went into the fourth period with an 86-64 spread and seemed headed for a trouble-free win after Caguioa's jumper made it a 24-point game.
Tanquingcen said it's all about his new-look team becoming more fmiliar with each other on court.
"Hopefully, iyung chemistry namin would get to that point na very fluid na," said Tanquingcen. "They get along well naman. It's just that iyung movements nila sa court hindi pa masyadong nagkaka-amuyan, like Mark and Jayjay (Helterbrand) before."
Sophomore Dylan Ababou did not see action due to a hamstring injury he suffered in Ginebra's tuneup game against Petron Blaze last week. His absence was hardly felt.
In a game watched by a record opening day crowd of 18,901, the Kings got off to a quick start and led by as much as 53-32 before settling for a 55-39 halftime lead.
Quite taking everybody by surprise, Mamaril led Ginebra with eight points while Ellis and Jensen had seven points apiece as the Kings steadily broke off from a tight 23-20 count.
Similar chemistry was simply lacking on the part of GlobalPort.
The much-anticipated teamup of Miller and David hardly bore the desired fruits in the early goings. Although the two-time MVP had nine points in the first 24 minutes of play the perennial scoring champion missed his first four shots while committing as many turnovers.
Rudy Lingganay scored all of the Batang Pier's first 12 points, the last six off back-to-back triples that moved them within 12-14. But he was replaced and it was clear his touch deserted him when he returned.
Some semblance of fire was shown by GlobalPort in the first half but the most notable in the wrong way.
David was disgusted by Rabeh Al-Hussaini's failure to defend against an undergoal stab by Mamaril and lashed out at the third-year center in the ensuing timeout.
In contrast, Ginebra's focus was unwavering.
Tenorio did not buy a basket until his third shot, which he kissed off the glass in the last 3:17 of the half. But he need not do much except find the hot hands of which Ginebra had plenty of.
It was another acquisition last year, Allein Maliksi, who started Ginebra's roll, scoring all six of his points in the first seven minutes of play as the Kings easily quashed GlobalPort's threat through the incursions of Maierhofer, Kerby Raymundo and Rudy Hatfield and some snipings by Caguioa and Jensen, the latter's trey making it a 26-20 count heading to the second period.(NC)
The scores:
GINEBRA 110 - Caguioa 18, Maierhofer 14, Mamaril 14, Jensen 13, Ellis 12, Hatfield 11, Raymundo 8, Maliksi 7, Helterbrand 5, Cortez 4, Tenorio 2, Wilson 2.
GLOBAL PORT 90 - Miller 26, Lingganay 14, Mandani 13, David 9, Vanlandingham 7, Salvador 7, Al-Hussaini 4, Raymundo 2, Manuel 2, Deutchman 2, Guevarra 2, Yee 2, Adducul 0, Cruz 0.
Quarters: 26-20, 55-39, 86-64, 110-90
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