MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings head coach Tim Cone was delighted to carry the squad past foreign team Bay Area Dragons in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven championship series.
The “Philippine team” Gin Kings completed its conquest of the Hong Kong-based Dragons with a 114-99 domination in the do-or-die Game 7 on Sunday evening at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“We were playing for more than ourselves. We were playing more than just Ginebra and the Ginebra fans. We were playing for fans all around the country and we were playing for the league ourselves,” Cone said.
Cone added that it was like “Gilas Pilipinas vs China” atmosphere as a number of Gin Kings players in Japeth Aguilar, Earl Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo have played for the national team.
The 64-year-old American mentor added that the over 54,000-strong fans in the venue inspired his players to dominate the Dragons from the start and they even helped the crowd favorites during stretches that they struggled with their shots.
“You should see me before the game, I was a wreck. The anxious moments came when we weren’t playing well. There were certain stretches when we didn’t play that well and lost focus a little bit,” Cone said.
“But we kept the lead and it seemed like when they were making a run, they would miss some shots, miss a free throw that would dampen their run. We said that at halftime, they were going to make a run and we should make our poise in the second half,” he added.
“We didn’t see that run and that’s the function of the crowd. They would not let us let down,” continued Cone, who has stretched his league-leading 25 PBA titles as a head coach.
After steering the Gin Kings to its 15th PBA championship, Cone and his squad, led by newly-naturalized player Justin Brownlee, will now focus on defending the Governors’ Cup title.
“For me, it’s all about moving on from that. I’m just looking forward to the next one,” said Cone, who will also serve as assistant coach to Vincent “Chot” Reyes in the upcoming window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers./PN
