MENTOR VS STUDENT AS MIXERS TAKE ON KINGS
San Mig Super Coffee’s match with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday will be a proud moment for coach Tim Cone, regardless of its outcome.
Yes, it could well be a fierce and furious match – perhaps the most anticipated match-up in the Philippine Basketball Association today.
Cone will take pride in being pitted against former player and former chief assistant Jeff Cariaso in a coaching duel.
“It gives coaches much pride in having their players graduating to be part of a coaching staff, much more coming to their own becoming head coaches,” said Cone.
The keenly awaited game is set at 5:15 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with both teams looking to enhance their bids for a Top Four finish and its twice-to-beat quarterfinals incentive in this season-ending PLDT Home Telpad Governors’ Cup.
Ginebra is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the tourney at 3-0 while San Mig Coffee is among those right behind the Kings at 3-1.
It makes more interesting the first-ever face-off between Cone and Cariaso.
Perfect in three games as a head coach, Cariaso has kept on harping the trust and cooperation he’s getting from the Ginebra players.
Cariaso said his players’ willingness to embrace the system he has put in place at Ginebra is a big key in their winning start.
Of course, Cariaso is referring to the triangle offense – the offensive pattern used by Cone as his lethal weapon in all his 17 championships in the league.
As a coaching student of Cone, Cariaso has also become a big fan of this offense introduced by American coach Tex Winters.
So the curious question is who runs the triangle offense better between the Mixers and the Kings. Who makes the better job on the bench — the mentor or the student?
Cariaso is convinced he’s got the right materials to run the game. He has mentioned Greg Slaughter as a “perfect triangle offense center.”
As for the Mixers, they have proven themselves time again as a triangle offense team. (SB)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
