Ginebra needed confidence-boosting win vs Magnolia, says Cone

MANILA, Philippines -- The huge, grind-it-out win over the Magnolia Hotshots on Sunday gave confidence back to Barangay Ginebra after suffering a drubbing against the Meralco Bolts last month.

Before going into the All-Star break, Ginebra took a beating from the Bolts, 91-73, which head coach Tim Cone described as "embarassing."

Over the weekend, Cone and the Gin Kings vented their ire against their rivals Magnolia in a Manila Clasico matchup, 87-77.

Ginebra took control in the second half and pulled away in the final minutes of the game as they barged back into the win column.

Cone, after the game, admitted that the team's confidence took "a little bit of a hit" after the Meralco game.

The win will give the team a much-needed lift, the coach underscored, especially since the team will face another rival in the San Miguel Beermen on Friday.

"I think it's huge. I think our confidence took a little bit of a hit when we played Meralco. We needed something to get us back going forward," he told reporters after the game.

"This is a game that's just an effort game for us, it wasn't pretty, it was just real good effort on defense. We hit the boards hard, we got back well, all those effort things came up tonight especially in the second half," he added.

The Gin Kings will have their hands full ahead of Friday's clash, as the Beermen are currently on top of the playing field, going undefeated in their first three assignments thus far.

San Miguel's depth continues to be their strong suit, as well as the explosive play of the team from top to bottom.

"So, that's gonna give us a lift I think more than anything going into the San Miguel game. Right now, San Miguel's playing at a level that they don't look like they're beatable. But we'll see what we can do."