MANILA – Coach Tim Cone lauded the San Miguel Beermen for their deep arsenal after Ginebra fell short in Game 1 of the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals.

The Gin Kings failed to make the correct plays down the stretch and absorbed a 92-90 loss on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

• PBA: San Miguel escapes with slim win over Ginebra for 1-0 semis lead

"Well, we tried to stay with them. We did, we stayed with them. But they made the plays down the stretch," Cone told reporters after the game.

"Basically, that was the game. So we'll look on the video and see what things need to be adjusted," he added.

Ginebra could have played better, Cone said, but he still liked his team's efforts despite not claiming the win.

"We didn't play a sharp game. We could have played sharper than that. Obviously, San Miguel can play sharper than that as well," said Cone.

"We just got to pay a little bit more attention to detail if we're gonna try to find a way to beat this team. Good team. Tough. They've got a lot of different kinds of weapons. They've got their own version of Death 5," the Ginebra mentor emphasized as they go back to the drawing board for Game 2.

"Except [Bennie] Boatwright's playing Arwind Santos' role, so good team."

• No brotherly love in semis clash between Ginebra and San Miguel, says Cone

Cone also discussed San Miguel's spread-out talents, as CJ Perez showcased his basketball prowess after stuffing the stat sheet with 26 points, five rebounds, and three assists, while import Bennie Boatwright also had a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds.

"CJ [Perez] had a great game. When you put so much focus on—that's what a team is always been about. If you put so much focus on June Mar [Fajardo], trying to defend June Mar, and now we have to defend [Bennie] Boatwright, they have other guys that can step up," Cone said.

Fajardo completed SMB's supporting cast by adding a near-double-double with 18 markers and nine boards.

"Tonight it was CJ. Tomorrow, Romeo, if Terrence gets to play. Assuming he might come back on Friday, but he might be the next guy to step up. Or Marcio [Lassiter], or Chris [Ross]. They have a lot of weapons. [Don] Trollano. So that's the kind of choices you make. You focus on June Mar and Boatwright, someone else might be there. Tonight was CJ," the Gilas Pilipinas head coach concluded.

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Cone and the rest of the Gin Kings will try to bounce back and equalize in Game 2 on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

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