Ginebra’s Tim Cone era begins
Tim Cone coaching the Bgy. Ginebra Gin Kings is no longer just a pipe dream. It will no longer be talked about in hypothetical scenarios, but, rather, as a reality that diehards of Ginebra and diehards of Purefoods/Star, the team he left behind, will have to live with.
The PBA’s winningest coach, the only coach to win two grand slams in league history, will now take the reins of the league’s most popular but underachieving team. Ginebra hasn’t won a title in eight years. The Gin Kings have quite little to show for since the league shifted back to a three-conference format, and snatching Tim Cone Sent from my iPhone
Is this a good change for coach Tim? Yes and no. Yes because he enters a situation where he is guaranteed homecourt advantage every night. Despite the club’s floundering finishes these past few years, Ginebra remains the league’s best crowd draw. Any coach would love to play in that kind of environment. But that popularity also entails a sinister side — helluva high expectations. As coach Tim enters the picture with the most glowing resume of any coach in the country, he also carries the weight of Ginebra’s throng of supporters.
These fans know the kind of coach Tim Cone is, and they will expect results.
Is this a good change for Ginebra? Strangely enough, yes and no as well. Yes because, hey, they just got arguably the best PBA coach ever. And for nothing at that! Right off the bat, expect coach Tim to bring a heightened sense of formality, order, and discipline to Ginebra. On the other hand, there is a downside to this move.
Coach Tim has just become the team’s eighth coach in the last six seasons, replacing coach Frankie Lim, who lasted just one conference. For the past few years, Ginebra fans have been clamoring for continuity, but getting coach Tim doesn’t really address that.
Will Tim Cone be added to Ginebra’s history of “one and done” coaches? I doubt, but his success with the Gin Kings is highly contingent of some factors, not the least of which is a change in his roster.
As coach Tim explained in the SMC presscon on Thursday, one significant issue for Ginebra is the fact that the team just has too many point guards: LA Tenorio, Sol Mercado, Emman Monfort, Josh Uribiztondo, Jens Knuttel, and Jayjay Helterbrand.
There’s also the issue of not having a really marquee small forward. Chris Ellis hasn’t really been able to make a significant impact, while promising former Gilas forward Mac Baracael seems to have lost his mojo a bit after riding the bench many times this past season. They can address this by drafting maybe someone like Chris Newsome in the 2015 PBA Rookie Draft, or perhaps better yet, pulling the trigger on a possible swap for a sweet-shooting big guy. Maybe someone like Star’s Joe Devance, who has spent much of his career under coach Tim and is very acquainted with the triangle offense, can make the jump to follow coach Tim.
Other possible additions are the likes of current Barako Bull forward JC Intal, who was a strong candidate for Most Improved Player this past season, or perhaps Chris Lutz, who has gone through a roller-coaster of a career so far with San Miguel Beer.
Admittedly, however, I am excited to see how coach Tim, for the very first time in his PBA career, will juggle the twin towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. This kind of size is something coach Tim never really had with either Alaska or Purefoods/Star, and there was surely a hint of giddiness in coach Tim’s voice in the presscon when he was explaining, in general terms, how much growth awaits both Greg and Japeth.
All in all, it will be quite interesting to see how this new plot twist pans out and how long it will take for coach Tim to make things work and produce results — if at all.
If I were a Ginebra fan, I’d approach this Tim Cone era with a little trepidation, but I also wouldn’t be able to hide the feeling of hope. With a lineup so stacked, maybe all the Kings really needed was someone like Tim Cone to smoothen all the rough edges and start building a “new” Ginebra.
I only pray that Ginebra gives coach Tim a real shot at turning this mediocre franchise around. Not just one conference. Not just one season. Now that you have coach Tim, Ginebra, don’t forget perhaps the most deep-rooted issue of the team — continuity.
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