Japeth Aguilar says Ginebra needs a way to get back motivation and - TopicsExpress

Japeth Aguilar says Ginebra needs a way to get back motivation and energy to arrest skid from:spin.ph/basketball/pba/news/japeth-aguilar-barangay-ginebra-globalport-eric-gonzales-2014-pba-philippine-cup STATISTICS will show why Ginebra is suddenly on a free-falling mode in the PBA Philippine Cup. Japeth Aguilar said the dip in three major statistical departments obviously contributed to the tailspin of the Kings, who on Sunday suffered a 98-77 rout at the hands of GlobalPort, and knocked them out of the running for the two outright berth in the semis. Prior to the skid, the Kings were off to a quick start in the All-Filipino tournament by winning five of their first six games. “Kaya kami nananalo dati, kasi kami ang No.1 sa defense, sa rebound, at saka assists. Pero nung natatalo na kami, bumaba kami sa mga categories na yun,” explained the 27-year-old Aguilar. The former Ateneo and Western Kentucky Hilltopper big man, indeed, has a point. During Ginebra’s fiery start in the first half of the single-round eliminations, the Kings ranked second in the league in defense, holding their opposition to just 77.5 points per contest. But beginning with its 79-77 loss to San Miguel, the team’s defense suddenly went awry as the Kings gave up an average of 95.3 points per game. “Kailangan magtulungan kami kasi di naman nananalo ang team sa isang player lang. Kailangan namin i-improve yung team defense namin,” Aguilar shared to Spin.ph during the team’s Monday practice. Ginebra’s had less than 24 hours to recover from its embarrassing 21-point loss against GlobalPort as it prepares for its game against league leader Alaska, the best defensive squad in the tournament. Aguilar hopes the hunger will be back for the Kings, considering a fourth straight loss would be a dampener in their goal of at least finishing among the third to sixth seeds that guarantees a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs. “Kailangan bumalik yung motivation namin, kasi before talaga, ang motivation at energy ng team mataas. Pero ngayon medyo bumaba. So we need to find a way,” he added. -tim