Coach Bonnie Tan described NorthPort's stunning 119-116 win over Barangay Ginebra as a \"statement game\" for the underachieving franchise in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
With doubters always questioning the franchise's desire to win even though in previous seasons the team had the talent, the Batang Pier played with great resolve on Wednesday, leading the Gin Kings by as many as 18 points before holding off their rally late in the game.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r
The win marked the end of NorthPort's 14-game losing streak, a stretch that dates back to Dec<\/span>.<\/span> 14, 2019 when the team took Game 1, 124-90 in its PBA Governors' Cup semifinals series against Ginebra.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r \"We challenged our players in tonight's game, it's a statement game for us,\" said Tan. \"Everyone is questioning our status because we don't win against big teams.\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r Public perception has not been good for the Batang Pier, who joined the league at the start of the 2012-13 PBA season since buying the Powerade franchise.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r For one, some PBA fans view NorthPort as a \"farm team\" of San Miguel Corp<\/span>oration<\/span>-owned squads.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r But Tan insists that NorthPort is for real and has no intention to just be stepped on by the so-called \"big teams.\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r \"We hope with this win, we proved that we're here to win games and to be competitive, di yung basta basta na team lang,\" he added.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r NorthPort has been lording it over the standings this conference, thanks to import Kadeem Jack, who provides the big inside presence, while Arvin Tolentino and Joshua Munzon, two players figuring in the top 10 for the Best Player of the Conference race, are also making big contributions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r Jack, the Trinidadian-American big man, churned out with big numbers after finishing with 32 points and 16 rebounds, while Tolentino and Munzon added 29 and 27, respectively in a massive display of firepower.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r The Batang Pier hiked their record to a tournament-best 7-1 to stay at first place, moving the team closer to tying its nine-win total, which the squad registered during the 2019 Commissioner's Cup.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r \"We just take it day by day and focus on what's ahead of us, but going to the Holiday break, we know we got to face a tough game like Ginebra. We've been preparing for it pretty much the whole break, and our hard work paid off,\" s<\/span>ai<\/span>d Munzon, the top overall pick in the 2020 PBA Rookie Draft.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\r NorthPort will take a five-day break, before swinging back to action on Jan<\/span>.<\/span> 14 against Meralco, followed by Rain or Shine two days later.<\/span><\/span><\/p>","article_custom_fields":"{\"\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_keywords\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_description\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_title\":[\"\"],\"sponsored_flag\":[\"\"],\"offer_flag\":[\"\"],\"featured_article_flag\":[\"\"],\"drupal_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":null,\\\"properties\\\":{\\\"PUBLISHED\\\":0,\\\"PROMOTED\\\":0,\\\"STICKY\\\":0},\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"wp_custom_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"article_tags\":[\"\"],\"show_image\":[\"\"],\"Disable_Ad\":[\"\"],\"disable_player\":[\"\"],\"column\":[\"\"],\"kicker\":[\"\"],\"edel\":[\"\"],\"delu\":[\"\"],\"delt\":[\"\"],\"premium\":[\"off\"],\"Redirect_URL\":[\"\"],\"Registration_required\":[\"\"],\"background_image\":[\"\"],\"user_needs\":[\"\"],\"page_number\":\"0\",\"initial_publication\":\"\",\"date_created\":\"2025-01-09 19:36:30\",\"date_modified\":\"2025-01-09 19:40:49\",\"last_modified_user\":\"Frederick Nasiad\",\"section_color\":\"#08F304\",\"target_page\":\"0\",\"cxense_metatags\":null}","cms_type":"live","author_id":2616,"section_id":3,"seo_meta_keywords":"NorthPort,is,here,to,win,games,\u2014\u00a0Tan","seo_meta_description":"","seo_meta_title":"NorthPort is here to win games \u2014\u00a0Tan","publish_time":"2025-01-09 19:36:00","related_articles_ids":"","article_tags":"","sub_section_id":0,"visit_count":20,"sponsored_flag":0,"offer_flag":0,"featured_article_flag":0,"media_gallery_flag":0,"video_gallery_flag":0,"highlight_flag":0,"top_story_flag":0,"is_updated":0,"is_old_article":0,"old_article_id":0,"article_byline":"Richard Dy","ts":"2025-01-10 10:04:31","last_edited":"2025-01-09 19:40:49","alt_publish_time":"2025-01-09 19:41:02","image_path":"{\\\"image_path\\\":\\\"manilatimes\\\\\/uploads\\\\\/images\\\\\/2025\\\\\/01\\\\\/09\\\\\/510595.jpg\\\",\\\"cms_type\\\":\\\"live\\\",\\\"small_image\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"is_updated\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_cropping\\\":\\\"{\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_original_width\\\\\\\":1128,\\\\\\\"image_original_height\\\\\\\":776,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\"},\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_main_width\\\\\\\":1200,\\\\\\\"image_main_height\\\\\\\":825,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\"}}\\\",\\\"is_copied\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"media_type\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_caption\\\":\\\"NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan PBA PHOTO\\\",\\\"image_alt_text\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"image_count\\\":1}","author_name":"Richard Dy","section_name":"Sports","sub_section_name":"","slide_show":0,"breaking_news":0,"visit_count_update_date":"2025-01-10 10:04:31","old_cms_article_id":null,"permalink":"2025\/01\/09\/sports\/northport-is-here-to-win-games-tan\/2036092","show_image_in_thumb":0,"api_status":2,"a_custom_data":"{\"exclude_from_gallery\":null,\"lead_image_id\":null}","publication_id":2,"max_publish_time":"2025-01-09 19:41:02","page_number":"0","homepage_article_flag":0,"article_shortlink":null,"cropped_image":0};
NorthPort is here to win games — Tan
