PBA: ‘They don’t look tired to me,’ says Joshua Munzon on Ginebra core

Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals against NorthPort Batang Pier. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—With the way Ginebra’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series against Northport is going, it doesn’t seem like it’s the Gin Kings’ core that also played for Gilas Pilipinas is even remotely tired.

Ginebra blasted Northport in another blowout, 119-106, to take a 2-0 series lead over the top-seeded squad after the elimination round.

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When asked whether Batang Pier key cog Joshua Munzon felt Ginebra slowed down due to fatigue, the athletic guard laughed it off.

LIVE: PBA semifinals Game 2 – Northport vs Ginebra, Rain or Shine vs TNT

“Tired? They don’t look tired to me,” said Munzon in jest with Inquirer Sports. “I can’t tell if they’re tired or not. They don’t look tired to me.”

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Munzon has all the reason to think that way after two games.

For one, Japeth Aguilar, who was with Gilas for the final window of the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers, played like a man possessed with a conference-high 31 points and eight rebounds on a 61.1 percent field goal shooting clip.

NorthPort Batang Pier’s Joshua Munzon. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

In Game 1, it was Justin Brownlee–Gilas’ main main who played heavy minutes in the past few weeks–who topscored for Ginebra with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists.

READ: PBA: Ginebra clobbers NorthPort anew for 2-0 semifinals lead

Munzon, though, simply blamed their defense for the Batang Pier’s awful showing thus far in the semifinals.

“It’s our defense. Our defense has to be better. They get a lot of open shots and threes. They basically get whatever they want so we have to try and make it hard on them,” said the former Terrafirma player.

Munzon finished with 14 points, four assists and two rebounds in the loss but exited the game late in the fourth quarter after fouling out.

The 2021 top overall pick, though, said he had no regrets fouling out the way he did.

“We were down 30 and cut it back down to 15 off of being aggressive. That’s how we got back in the game, we had to sacrifice playing hard as we could. I fouled out but at the same time, we left it all on the court,” he said.

Munzon and the Batang Pier aim to get on the best-of-seven series’ win column on Sunday when they take on the Gin Kings at Araneta Coliseum.