Ginebra will get better, stronger – Cone
Fans of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel were left disappointed anew after the debut of new coach Tim Cone ended with an embarrassing loss to his former team and so-called rival Star Hotshots last Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But Cone expressed confidence that a silver lining awaits his new team as they try to meet the big expectations of their fans in the season-opening Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup.
“We’ll get better, hopefully we’ll be good at the right time,” Cone told a group of reporters outside the locker room following Ginebra’s shock 86-78 defeat to Star. “I really like this team we have, I think we have a great future.”
It was not the debut Cone and the legion of Ginebra supporters had hoped for last weekend as the Hotshots hardly missed the PBA’s winningest coach behind a torrid run that turn the highlyanticipated game into a beatdown.
James Yap led a 23-1 run as Star turned a slim 14-12 lead into 37-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Star’s lead ballooned to 44-13 in the second quarter before Ginebra tried to turn things around behind rookie guard Scottie Thompson, who showed flashes of brilliance that made him last year’s NCAA Most Valuable Player for University of Perpetual Help.
But the end result saw Jason Webb, Cone’s successor at Star, posting his first career coaching victory after enduring a baptism of fire in Wednesday’s 96-87 loss to Rain or Shine.
Cone, for his part, had a nightmarish start to his new role of ending Ginebra’s long-wait for a championship.
It didn’t help that Cone lost at the expense of the Hotshots, the team he steered to five championships, including a Grand Slam in 2014.
“That wasn’t a whole lot of fun,” said Cone. “We probably picked the worst team we could play… I mean, if we had to pick a team to play in our first game, Purefoods (Star) would be the worst pick. What we’ve been doing for two months, they’ve doing it for four years.”
“They knew us, they knew the things that will disrupt us, and they knew the things that will give us problems in terms of our execution,” added Cone.
The twin tower combination of 7-footer Greg Slaughter and 6-foot-10 Japeth Aguilar groped early but ended up with huge numbers. Slaughter finished 28 points and 16 rebounds while Aguilar had 26 points and 16 board.
Ginebra’s guards, however, were a disappointment.
Mark Caguioa scored just four points even as LA Tenorio. Sol Mercado and Jayjay Helterbrand were held scoreless, missing a combined nine shots.
“Obviously, Greg and Japeth can put-up big numbers, but it has to come from everybody,” said Cone.
“I think our problem is that we didn’t get LA, Mark, Chris (Ellis) and Sol, and even Joe into a rhythm, those guys got to be able to contribute, and we didn’t do that… that falls on me, not them, it falls on me.”
“But first game, really, in the big scheme of things, I’m sure the fans don’t want to hear about this – maybe I shouldn’t say this – but in the big scheme of things, who cares? It is just one game,” added Cone.
The veteran coach later gave credit to Webb and his former assistant coaches at Star.
“Our guys tried so hard to execute, and they were really trying to please me, and Jason came out, played zone, played all different kinds of defenses and just didn’t allow our guys to execute,” said Cone.
“My hats off to Jason and Johnny (Abarrientos) and their staff, and what they did tonight. It was brilliant. We’re totally outcoached tonight. They know the things that can disrupt us. It’s a tough time playing them in our first game.”