Kings ready to win sans crowd
There are times that when the players are already tired, they grab energy from the crowd
CLARK — With or without crowd, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is determined to win the Philippine Cup title of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted that despite posting a 100-94 win in Game 1, competing in the best-of-seven finals of the most important conference in the PBA is a “little bit” different without the support of the crowd.
The Kings are regarded as the crowd-darlings of the PBA.
Playing-coach Robert Jaworski and his crew of Dondon Ampalayo, Rudy Distrito and Leo Isaac won the hearts of the fans by playing hard every game.
This charisma rubbed off to the next generation of Ginebra players like Marlou Aquino, Bal David, Vince Hizon and Pido Jarencio up to the batch of Rudy Hatfield, Eric Menk and Mark Caguioa.
Now, the group of Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson remains as the biggest crowd-drawer until the coronavirus pandemic struck, forcing the league to hold the all-Filipino conference inside a quarantine bubble at the Angeles University Foundation Arena here.
“It’s a different feeling. Usually, we walk on the court in the first game of the finals with the crowd always there to lift us up,” said Cone, who steered the squad to four titles since assuming the coaching reign in 2016.
“There are times that when the players are already tired, they grab energy from the crowd. And not having them right now is much more difficult for us.”
Cone said the crowd plays a big role in the morale of the Kings. In fact, he experienced it first-hand when — as a young Alaska head coach — he collided with Jaworski and the Gin Kings in a lot of memorable battles in the 1990s.
He even embraced an antagonistic role to Ginebra fans when he coached the Purefoods franchise, which he led to the PBA grand slam in 2014.
“It was such a huge thing to be going against Robert Jaworski and the Ginebra team back in the day. Same with Purefoods; we had a little rivalry that started with the ‘Manila Clasico.’”
“In fact, now, I got a lot of people coming up to me and saying ‘I used to hate you, but you’re now my favorite coach.’”
Still, with only three games to win, Cone vows never to let their supporters down as they aim to become the first team to clinch the title in this historic conference.
“It’s very different now. Before the game, we talked about the fact that we have to find a way to lift ourselves,” said Cone, the winningest mentor in PBA history.