CONE’S NEW PROJECT
It doesn’t stop with the Grand Slam for San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
“Winning never gets old,” he said.
And as they embark on another journey in the 40th season of the PBA, he’s hoping that he could develop young players to positions where they can match up against rivals in the long run.
“Yousef Taha, that’s my project,” Cone said. “You couldn’t get any other guys in the league which is just like him. He’s tall, he’s big, and we need him for the future to defend the Fajardo’s and Slaughter’s.”
San Mig Coffee got Taha last June when they flipped him from GlobalPort for Val Acuña and Yancy de Ocampo, and Taha will follow suit with the guys which coach Tim has zeroed in on in the past.
“I always love to see players get better,” Cone said. “Watching Sonny Thoss in the past get better, or watching James Yap struggle through a whole year with all of the stuff that has happened to him and still emerge a stronger person and a better player, I think Yousef can also be better the same way the others did.”
Only two years into his PBA career, Taha has already suited up for five teams. But Cone is looking to make the 26-year-old Fil-Kuwaiti a key piece in the Coffee Mixers’ rotation this time out.
Taha is currently backing up big men Marc Pingris, Rafi Reavis, and Ian Sangalang for San Mig, and has already helped them win the Grand Slam-clinching Governors’ Cup.
“He has not been given much time to adapt and be comfortable with his role in his past teams. We’re hoping to do that with him here,” the two-time Grand Slam champion coach said. (RL)
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