It’s been two years since Jeremiah Gray suffered a second ACL injury, and he’s still trying to regain his footing in the PBA. The good thing is he’ll get his chances at Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, especially with Tim Cone thinking highly of him.
Cone is so high on Gray that he considers him one of Ginebra’s most skilled players. That’s saying something for a coach who has been around for over three decades and has seen his fair share of talented hoopers.
“Miah is probably, along with RJ [Abarrientos], maybe our most skilled player just in terms of pure skill, basketball skill,” Cone told reporters after Ginebra routed the NLEX Road Warriors on Sunday. “He could score on all three levels. But you gotta remember, he was out for nearly two years, he had a catastrophic injury, so we’ve been careful with him.”
Cone’s Vote of Confidence in Jeremiah Gray
While Cone and Ginebra are taking a cautious approach with Jeremiah Gray, they’re also trying to get the 29-year-old forward to believe in himself again. And one way Cone is doing that is by starting the prized Fil-Am.
“We’ve been starting him in the lineup because we want him to understand how important he is to the team, and we wanted him to get confidence from there,” Cone shared.
It seemed to be working, with Gray averaging 10.3 points in Ginebra’s first three games and getting to double digits in two of those three. Then, Cone decided to have the former 3×3 standout come off the bench against the San Miguel Beermen in Dubai, and it backfired, with Gray finishing without a single point. On Sunday, Cone acknowledged it wasn’t the right decision.
“I made the coaching error of making him come off the bench at Dubai after he had made really good progress in the first three games,” the PBA’s winningest coach admitted after the NLEX match. “When he came off the bench, he just didn’t have the same feel…”
Jeremiah Gray Needs More Self-Belief
Even though Cone admitted that bringing Jeremiah Gray off the bench was a tactical error, he reiterated his confidence in the young man’s skill set and talent. However, according to Cone, the former lottery pick needs to fully believe in himself first.
“We want to use all of his skills. He’s got great size for his position, he can rebound, he’s got good vision to pass, [and] he could score outside and inside,” Cone pointed out. “He just needs to realize that on his own that he could do that. We can tell him all we want, but he has to feel it. I think this is another big step for him.”
Against NLEX, it looked like Jeremiah Gray was feeling it, putting up 9 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal in an all-around performance that seemed to affirm Cone’s belief.
Now, he’ll just have to keep believing that he can be the player Cone and Ginebra envision him to be.
