Ginebra showed growth despite another early exit, says import Jeffers

Othyus Jeffers sees positives for Ginebra despite exit. KC Cruz

Barangay Ginebra suffered yet another early playoff exit after folding in two games against Rain or Shine in the quarterfinals of the Commissioner's Cup.

The Gin Kings, which impressed in the elimination round after finishing with a 7-4 card, fell 88-84 in the first game and then got blown out, 102-89, on Tuesday.

It was quite an anticlimactic turn of events for the crowd favorites, but import Othyus Jeffers said the team still achieved a lot despite the lack of playoff success.

"We made strides. We just broke down at the wrong time," said the former NBA player, who scored 27 points in Ginebra's losing effort in Game Two.

The Kings had a couple of standout performances in the elims, coming up with huge victories against league-leading squads San Miguel Beer and Meralco.

It was a tough luck that they drew the Elasto Painters in the quarters, though, as the team is intimately acquainted with Tim Cone's triangle offense.

"(Yeng Guiao) has a couple of conferences to defend it against other teams. His past teams is very educated with the triangle," Jeffers said.

But the undersized import remains positive that Ginebra will grow next conference, where he is expected to reprise his role as the team's import in the Governors' Cup.

"We grew a lot from the first game to the last," he said. "Again, it's still new to us and we're still learning." —JST, GMA News