CONE: GINEBRA JUST GETTING WARMED UP

Tim Cone said he expected Barangay Ginebra to have a challenging stretch to start the PBA Season 50 upon seeing the schedule of the Philippine Cup elimination round.

For one, the Gin Kings opened the season playing against elite squads, starting with the Magnolia Hotshots to kick off the league’s year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary.

Ginebra battled against Magnolia, a team that’s in transition with the entry of Cone’s former long-time playmaker LA Tenorio, who has crossed into head coaching prior to the start of the new season.

And if that’s any indication, the 41-year-old Tenorio seemed to have started his rookie coaching well after steering Magnolia to an 80-73 triumph against Ginebra to open the Season 50 with the Manila Clasico game.

The next game saw games Ginebra bounce back with a 92-77 rout of TNT, a team that fell short of winning the Season 49 grand slam after ruling two of the three conferences.

The Gin Kings then dropped their next two matches— an 89-75 loss to Meralco, and an 83-81 cliffhanging defeat to San Miguel Beer in Dubai.

“We noticed that from the very beginning, we were handed the schedule,” Cone said, referring to facing PBA squads owned by the Manny V. Pangilinan and sister squads Magnolia and San Miguel.

“We were prepared mentally that we might struggle early; that our record may not be what we want to be.”

Despite limping to a 1-3 start for the season, Ginebra managed to finally, put together a superlative effort last Sunday, routing early conference leader NLEX, 104-74, in Antipolo City.

“Tonight if it’s an indication, (but) you’ll never know (because) everyday is different. Tonight we put a good one together. And maybe if we can do that, maybe we can make a run this conference,” he added.

The PBA’s all-time winningest coach admitted the Gin Kings had all sorts of mishaps heading into their game against the Beermen in Dubai.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well in Dubai,”  Cone said matter-of-factly. “That was a tough place to shoot. We didn’t get a chance to practice there. We didn’t get a chance to shoot before anytime until game.”

Still, the American coach explained he was happy to see his team make the adjustments against NLEX, a team that won the first four of its five games into the season and entered Sunday night’s match with a three-game winning streak.

"There are little reasons here and there but we did made some adjustments to our game today, try to get out a little bit more so that we can attack and made easier baskets,” he said.

“By and large, I know everybody is going to look at the offense that we shot better but still, it came down to the defense. I thought we did a great job defensively.”

Cone credited Filipino-American guard Stephen Holt for slowing down NLEX’s do-it-all playmaker Robert Bolick, who was held down to just four points on a dismal 1-of-7 shooting from the field.

The former San Beda star still managed to issue 11 assists, though his game was also marked by four turnovers.

“I thought Stephen did a great job on Berto. He is such a tough guard. He still got 11 assists. But he is such a tough guard and Stephen, I thought, did a really good job. And our bigs really did a great job of controlling the paint and not allowing them to penetrate,” Cone said.

Ginebra will more time to prepare before returning to action this coming Sunday against newcomer Titan Ultra in Montalban, Rizal.

2025-11-04T11:29:45Z