By REYNALD MAGALLON
San Miguel is the benchmark and the Philippine Cup is still its stomping ground. That view has not changed one bit for Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
And with the Kings arranging a semifinals waltz with the Beermen, the multi-titled mentor knew his team would have an uphill climb to make it to a third-straight Finals appearance in the PBA 49th Season.
“We always say if you’re going to win an All-Filipino, you have to go through San Miguel at some point.Whether it be in the quarters or the semis or the finals, you have to go through them to have a chance to win a championship,” said Cone in the aftermath of the teams 88-80 win over Converge.
SMB might have failed to advance to the playoffs in the Commissioners Cup and underwent some coaching changes, from Jorge Gallent to the return of Leo Austria, an all-Filipino showdown against the Beermen is an entirely different story according to Cone.
For the veteran mentor, he still sees the same dominant SMB that once reigned the PH Cup for five straight years behind its ‘Death 5’ line up led by current Best Player of the Conference leader June Mar Fajardo.
“I don’t see a lot of difference, honestly. I mean, you know, Marcio is still there. Ross is still there. Those guys are such huge veterans. They know the game so well. They know each other and they know the team so well,” Cone pointed out.
“They’re terrific leaders. I had the experience of having them at the Asian Games and I know what kind of leaders those guys are. So we can’t say enough good things about them,” he added.
Ginebra isn’t worrying about the remnants of the SMB’s famous lineup alone as the Beermen also have more depth this time with CJ Perez also in the fold in Don Trollano, Jericho Cruz as well as Juami Tiongson.
“And now they’ve added a veteran in Juami (Tiongson) who’s a good fit for what June Mar likes to do. And kind of the Alex Cabagnot-type. He can sit outside and really space the floor for him. So, you know, I don’t think they’ve changed all that much,” added Cone.
Of course, that is not to say that Ginebra is lacking the weapon to compete against SMB. It is just that for Cone, SMB, with Austria easing his way back to the coaching role after giving way to Gallent for two years, is just as dominant as it was from the last decade.
“Leo has so much success in the way he’s done things. If it ain’t broke, why change it? And until someone can consistently prove that they can beat San Miguel, why would they change? And no one’s been able to prove that in the All-Filipino,” stressed Cone.
“That’s the runway we’ve been given. So that’s the runway we’ve got to go through,” he added.
