Tim Cone credits record PBA crowd for Game 7 Ginebra win against Bay Area

For head coach Tim Cone, the crowd delivered for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

Cone said it seemed that the squad relied on the 54,589 strong crowd in the Philippine Arena as extra motivation in going against the Bay Area Dragons.

He admitted that they were 'angry' about what happened in Game 6 where they lost to Bay Area, but the 25-time champion coach said the anger was converted into something productive for the 114-99 win in Game 7.

"We were angry about Game 6. We didn't want to go to a Game 7," Cone said in the post-game conference. "We felt we had Game 6 in hand, we had that comeback, and then we let it slip away and we were angry about that."

"I think that anger spilled over into Game 7. Our guys were really locked in from the very first minute. I really feel that they could feel the energy of the crowd, the 54,000 that were here," he added.

The energy Ginebra got from the crowd is something even Cone could not explain.

"Just from the very first basket when Justin [Brownlee] scored, it's hard to explain but you could just feel the energy of the players just go up," said Cone.

"I wish we knew exactly what geared us to play this well tonight, If I did I'd put it in a bottle and tell the other coaches but I don't know what we did. I do know we came out a little angry and I do know that the energy from the crowd boosted us to levels I don't think we could get to, against this team."

Despite the dominant game, Cone said he was surprised by how well they performed against the Dragons.

"We were totally surprised at how well we played and how we beat Bay Area," said Cone.

"When you have that massive crowd behind you, you play better than you are."

In front of the record crowd, the win also handed Ginebra its 15th overall title.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News