Even though Rain or Shine had to go through a knockout quarterfinal game before disposing of GlobalPort side, Tim Cone continues to have high regard for the Elasto Painters because of their rich playoff experience.
Cone points to the presence of wide-bodied import Reggie Johnson and James Yap, with whom Cone won five league championships before eventually moving to Barangay Ginebra in 2015.
"There are reasons ROS is the No. 1 seed. One, of course, is Johnson, a smart, mobile big-bodied big man, and another is the play of James Yap," Cone said, heading to Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-five semifinal series on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
"James has always been good at supplying what the team needs whether it being scoring or sacrifice."
Johnson averages 23.2 points and 17.2 rebounds per game this conference. He gets a lot of his points from close range, though he has also showed his ability to shoot 3-pointers when given the chance.
And there is Yap, the two-time league MVP, who poured in a personal conference-high 27 points, lacing it with seven triples to lead Rain or Shine to a 103-97 on Thursday and booking a semifinal spot in the process.
Although Yap is averaging just 17.2 minutes and 7.8 points per game, Cone has no doubt, that "Big Game James" can explode if given the playing time.
Still, Cone isn't limiting ROS' scoring threats to Johnson and Yap
"RoS is just such a savvy basketball team with guys like James, (Gabe) Norwood, (Beau) Belga and (Chris) Tiu, and because of that, they don't beat themselves," he said.
Ginebra dropped a 108-89 decision to Rain or Shine during its only collision early this conference. But at that time, the Kings had Charles Garcia as their import.
Garcia has been replaced by Justin Brownlee, whose playoff brilliance led the Kings to the Final Four following their 2-0 quarterfinal sweep of the Meralco Bolts, 2-0. Now, Ginebra enters the semis with a seven-game winning streak.
As usual, Brownlee will be leading the way for the league's most popular squad, along with top locals LA Tenorio, Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar, as well as young guard Scottie Thompson.