Ex-Alaska head coach Tim Cone says Aces just ‘unusually unlucky’

MORE than seven years removed as coach of Alaska, a team which he led to 13 championships, including a grand slam in 1996, multi-titled mentor Tim Cone had seen a lot of changes from the Aces.

But one thing remained certain — the Aces are a tough team to beat and Mr. Cone realized how scary facing this proud franchise, especially in their current situation.

So when the Gin Kings, Cone’s new squad, faced his ex-team in an out-of-town game in Cebu Saturday, Barangay Ginebra came out fully prepared and played with a sense of urgency to come out with a blowout 94-80 triumph over Alaska.

It was the 14th straight loss suffered by Alaska dating back the Commissioner’s Cup. Alaska has yet to win a game in the seasonending Governors’ Cup, putting the squad in a tough situation of having to win as many games as possible or sweep their remaining five games to get a chance of a securing a possible playoff spot.

Coming to Saturday’s game, Mr. Cone knew he had to face one of his biggest fears in facing the Aces.

“Needless to say, Alaska is an incredibly scary team to play. Of their 13 losses, they could have or should have won at least 10 of them, They are not playing bad basketball. They’ve just been snake-bit and unusually unlucky,” Mr. Cone said.

Mr. Cone said preparation was crucial in their latest win.

“We respect the team, the organization, the coach. We knew we’ll have to prepare for an incredibly tough game out of town. It should be a good one for the Cebuanos,” added Mr. Cone.

The Gin Kings shot 45% from the field, none of them were steadier than Joe Devance, who shot a perfect six-of-six from the 2-point range. The 6-foot-7 veteran Fil-Am finished the game with 19 markers on top of three steals.

Four Ginebra players also ended up in double-digits in rebounding led by Greg Slaughter’s 13, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson’s 11 each and import Justin Brownlee’s 10. —