IN an epic battle of wits between two multi-titled coaches, Ginebra tactician Tim Cone put one over Bay Area counterpart Brian Goorjian.
But Cone gave Goorjian plaudits in the din of the glitz and glamor of the Kings’ 114-99 victory over the Dragons in their deciding duel last Sunday night for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown before a mammoth crowd at the cavernous Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
“Without a doubt (this title was toughest to win.) Brian Goorjian is really special. I can honestly say that. He had to go through basically three different line-ups through this series,” Cone said. “One with (Andrew) Nicholson, and he played one way, then he played all-Chinese, and he played one way, and they came with (Myles) Powell and played another way.
“His team stayed in their flow and when they lost Nicholson, the spirit was incredible, their motor really lifted instead of (going) down. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves. Powell came off in Game 6 and played a wonderful game. But I felt that we could adjust to him a lot better,” he added.
Cone said having a healthier squad proved to be one of the keys in the crucial Game 7, a tiff where Ginebra’s incomparable sixth man– all 54,589 of them, a record audience– showed up.
“The bottom line was we had the healthier line-up. I think they didn’t,” Cone said. “If they had a healthier line-up all the way through, I don’t know if I’m at this podium right now.”
The Kings’ first mid-season title triumph since 2018 gave them their 15th crown overall, shoving them past Magnolia and the defunct Alaska franchise as the pro league’s second winningest squad behind San Miguel Beer.
Cone, who bagged his 25th diadem overall as the PBA’s winningest strategist, also called the shots for the Aces and the Hotshots (then known as B-Meg/San Mig/Star).
He said having naturalized Filipino player and resident Ginebra import Justin Brownlee and an intact coaching staff spelled the big difference.
“Just before the game our coaching staff said, ‘(Did) you realize we’re almost on our eight-year together as a staff’?’” Cone said. “That continuity of the staff being together and the continuity of having Justin there for those same times just equates to success.”
Out to quell Bay Area’s bid of duplicating Nicholas Stoodley’s breakthrough triumph in 1980, the first win by an overseas squad in the pro league’s history, Cone, in just three days, made the needed adjustments after his charges dropped a sorry 84-87 loss to the Dragons in the sixth game last Wednesday.
