FOR TIM CONE, GINEBRA HAS TO 'BELIEVE' FIRST IF IT'S TO BEAT SMB

IT appears Never-Say-Die isn’t enough mantra for Barangay Ginebra in its roller-coaster semifinal series against San Miguel in the PBA Philippine Cup.

‘We Believe’ is also now part of the Kings’ battlecry if they’re to dethrone the reigning, defending champion of the All-Filipino Cup.

The Kings managed to level the series at 2-2 on Sunday night by clawing their way back from an early 16-point deficit to pull off the 105-91 win before a huge crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.

READ: Ross says SMB can't afford to keep letting Ginebra back in games

And Tim Cone said it began with the mindset of believing Ginebra can beat San Miguel.

"I think that’s the biggest battle that we have to overcome – just the belief that we can beat this team," admitted the Gilas Pilipinas coach heading to Game 5 on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

San Miguel defeated Barangay Ginebra in a Game 7 knockout match in the semis of this very same conference last season on its way to regaining the PBA’s so-called crown jewel.

And as the no. 1 seeded team with a 10-game winning streak heading to the semis, the Beermen were naturally favored to get past the fifth-seeded team that needed to win twice against no. 4 Converge FiberXers to earn its rematch against the mighty Beermen.

Cone admitted a bit frightened just looking at the overall composition and the aura the Beermen carried as the most accomplished ballclub as far as the Philippine is concerned.

"They’re such a legendary team in the All-Filipino. June Mar is legendary. It’s quite intimidating to play them," he said.

"You look out there and you see (Chris) Ross, (Marcio) Lassiter, CJ (Perez), and June Mar. That just looked like such a formidable team. And then you add (Don) Trollano and Jericho (Cruz). It’s really tough."

READ: Ginebra sub Raymond Aguilar embraces ‘Mr. Never Heard’ label

So it's a good thing that after a hard practice in the aftermath of the 91-85 Game 3 loss, Cone saw a different Ginebra side. He saw a team that believed that they can win, and it showed on Sunday’s game especially after being down by as many as 30-14 in the opening period.

"I felt we kinda have that (in the last game) and I feel we didn’t have that in Game 3, that sense that we could win," Cone said. 

The Barangay Ginebra coach hopes the Kings carry that same mentality for the remainder of the best-of-seven series if they hope to make it back to the finals of the All-Filipino Cup, which they last did during the 2020 Clark bubble they won the crown against TNT.

"I think the biggest problem that we have with this team is just believing that we can beat them. We really have to internalize the idea that we can beat them," said Cone.

San Miguel has the most number of All-Filipino championships won in PBA history with a total of 11 while Barangay Ginebra has four.

2026-01-13T12:15:07Z