Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone is usually very honest, even after a loss. So, perhaps the barangay ought to be encouraged by his assessment of the team’s heartbreaking 85-82 loss to the San Miguel Beermen on Easter Sunday.
According to the PBA’s all-time winningest tactician, “it was a good game” for Ginebra despite the result not going their way. Crucially, Cone believes his team was able to do what he wanted it to do but just ran into a truly elite adversary.
“Credit to them on their defensive side, but I thought we did a good job in many areas of the game,” Cone said. “We did what we wanted to do. Sometimes you do everything you’re supposed to do, and you’ll come up short against a team like this.”
Cone might have a point. Ginebra raced out to a 20-8 lead early, got clamped down in the second quarter, then broke out in the third and looked headed for a rout. Only San Miguel—and, specifically, Cjay Perez—turned things up in the fourth, rallied like the champs they are, and closed the show. It certainly didn’t help that Justin Brownlee left three points off the table on missed freebies.
Tim Cone Believes Ginebra Can Compete for a Title
Clearly, Tim Cone saw enough good things from Ginebra in that loss to San Miguel, though he admits his team can certainly play a lot better than it did on Easter Sunday. In fact, he believes Ginebra’s effort against San Miguel might be good enough to compete for the title in what could be an explosive, highly competitive PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“Overall, I was pleased with the way we played. If we keep playing like this, we’re going to compete for a championship. We’re not going to hang our heads too low right now,” Cone added. “Like I said, I thought we played well, just not well enough. We can play better, but I’m looking forward to our next game.”
Ginebra’s next game is on Friday against the Magnolia Hotshots in another installment of Manila Clasico. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
