MANILA, Philippines – Ginebra coach Tim Cone gave Kevin Ferrer a major compliment on Sunday, after the rookie helped the Gin Kings defeat San Miguel, 124-118, in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals that tied the series, 1-1.

Ferrer was at his best in a scorching second quarter, where he scored 18 points, including three three-pointers, and was virtually unguardable.

Thanks to Ferrer's second-quarter explosion, Ginebra raced to a stunning 26-point lead, 65-39, and looked to be on their way to a comfortable victory. However, San Miguel rallied in the second half, even taking a late lead, before Joe Devance forced overtime where the Gin Kings finally pulled away for good.

Ferrer cooled down considerably after his incredible shooting in the second frame, but he still managed to contribute one bucket in the extra period.

• READ: Ginebra takes wild overtime win in Game 2 to tie series

"That's Kevin. He's a rhythm shooter. When he gets it going, you better know where he is," Cone said of his rookie swingman's second-quarter exploits.

"That's why we added him, that's why we wanted him so badly because he adds that element to our team that we don't normally have," he added.

That dimension Cone refers to is similar to the one that import Justin Brownlee provided for Ginebra during the 2016 PBA Governors' Cup, which memorably ended with the Gin Kings winning their first PBA crown in eight years.

With Brownlee, the Gin Kings had a reliable scorer who could get hot in a hurry, a big forward who stretched opposing team's defenses with his three-point shooting while also being strong enough to guard big men.

"Kevin has been key this whole conference, in terms of giving us that extra dimension that we had when we had Justin Brownlee," said Cone.

"We had Justin Brownlee, and he was doing a lot of the stuff that Kevin is doing for us now. In fact, they play a similar game," he added.

Like Brownlee, Ferrer is also capable of spacing the floor for Ginebra. His three-point shooting in the second quarter opened the lane for LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson. Though not nearly as strong as Brownlee, Ferrer's length and speed makes him a match-up nightmare for opposing forwards.

"It's just that Justin is an NBA-quality player," said Cone. "That's the big difference. But he (Ferrer) adds that dimension that we lacked, so he's been real key for us."

This is not to say that everything has been smooth sailing for Ferrer in his rookie season. Cone bluntly admitted that the former University of Santo Tomas star is "still learning the game," particularly the complex defensive schemes that Ginebra runs.

"He made some mistakes defensively down the stretch. Because we are a defensive-first team and we rely on our defense, it's really hard for the rookies out there who don't understand the importance and all the techniques that we do defensively," Cone said.

"He kind of disrupts a little bit but on the other hand, we get some great offense from him," he added.

Ferrer was surprised to hear that Cone had compared him to Brownlee, saying: "Wow, iba 'yun ah."

"Siyempre, compare lang naman eh," he added. "Pero ayun, keep doing the right things lang, and suundin ko lang 'yung plano ni coach. Thank you kay coach, na naku-kumpara ako kay Brownlee."

He also sought to downplay his 21-point performance in Game 2. "Wala, I did my best lang. Ayun, ayun ang game plan, pag libre, tira lang talaga. Sabi nila, kumpyansa lang, okay lang. Kailangan sundin namin yung plano lang," Ferrer explained.

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