“Be aggressive and be the aggressor.” The short but powerful quote was seen on the whiteboard situated in Barangay Ginebra’s dugout ahead of its anticipated clash against the defending champion, San Miguel Beermen. These words certainly struck Troy Rosario’s fighting spirit that he led the team to snag the win last Sunday, January 5.

Ginebra’s first match of the new year was declared Rosario’s best offensive game since his enlistment with the Kings as their unrestricted free agent amid the offseason, source said. The star-of-the-game’s 22 points and 10 rebounds made an incredible impact that made Coach Tim Cone irresistibly throw some sweet compliments. 

“He hustles everywhere all the time,” Cone said. He also commended Rosario’s command on the floor and confidently shared about the player’s X-factor that brought them their desired victory that night. 

However, during an interview, the media could not help but still blurted the question as to why Jamie Malonzo was not seen wearing his jersey, but rather boasted street clothes. As many know, the Fil-Am forward of the Kings suffered an unfortunate calf injury last April that he had to take a mandatory vacation from basketball. 

According to Coach Cone, Malonzo is indeed healthy and is cleared by their trainers, but still “not in the proper true game shape yet.” He also revealed that Malonzo’s return is up in the air, but he and his coaching staff are closely assessing his progress. 

Though these words may seem bad news for the big man’s fans, the coach mentioned that Malonzo’s return will depend on his performance during their practices as getting in the right shape has always been important.

Quick refresher, the Fil-American recruit was recently reactivated to the team and is eligible to play. This is the reason why some fans and enthusiasts are baffled about his absence. Although many die-hard fans are eagerly waiting for his comeback with Barangay Ginebra, Malonzo’s top priority is joining the national team, Gilas Pilipinas, since he already missed two crucial games. 

On the other hand, the coach of Barangay Ginebra, is hoping that the Gin Kings’ victory over San Miguel on Sunday will give them the boost they need for their matchup against NorthPort Batang Pier, which leads the league, on Wednesday. 

With a 6-1 win-loss record going into the 7:30 p.m. game, the Batang Pier are the unexpected league leaders of the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup. game in the PhilSports Arena in Pasig against the Gin Kings, who are 5-2.

Cone of the Beermen, who lost to Ginebra, 93-81 said “They are the team that everybody measures themselves by. If you can go out and compete with San Miguel, then basically, you can compete with anybody. They are the yardstick of the league.”

“It was really important for us to try to follow up that game against Magnolia with the game against San Miguel. I thought the guys spent the whole break [holiday break] really working hard… We were very consumed with San Miguel,” he added.

NorthPort is undoubtedly different from San Miguel, but it is still a strong opponent, according to Cone.

After defeating the visiting Eastern team 120-113 on December 20 of last year, NorthPort’s matchup with Ginebra will be their final one until 2025.

Cone is optimistic that his team’s mentality from the victory against the Beermen won’t shift in the match against NorthPort.