No 'taunting' for Cone; Cardona won't budge

MANILA, Philippines - The KFC PBA Philippine Cup finale, reaching a dramatic, suspense-filled seventh game, has taken another twist with Alaska coach Tim Cone hinting at not just a verbal but physical confrontation between the Aces and Talk n Text Texters in the deciding Game Seven tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum.

Cone, in an interview after Talk n Text forced the sudden death with a 99-94 win in Game Six Sunday, warned that TnT top player Macmac Cardona might get hurt if he taunts any Alaska player again.

“It may lead to a fight and I’m not going to have my players back down,” Cone said.

Cardona, in a phone interview with The STAR, stressed he would stay the way he plays and the way he acts in the game, vowing not to be affected by Cone’s warning.

PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios hopes no untoward incident happens, saying he’ll call on the referees to pay attention to “illegal taunting rule” and advise the teams to concentrate on the game.

“If Cardona taunts any of our players again, I’m going to order that he be put out on the floor. He’s going to hit the floor with his head next time. He keeps taunting our players. He keeps making baskets and taunting our players. I’m not going to allow that anymore. We’re going to send a strong message to him once he taunts a player of ours,” said Cone.

“I think he’s done it three times or four times in this series and he’s been only warned once. I tell you that starts fights, and I’m not going to have my players back down. If someone’s trash-talking ‘em, they’re not going to back down. So either the referees have to be more attentive or it’s going to get ugly out there,” Cone added.

“There’s a very obvious one. He got a warning for it but I think it should be more than that. I mean he did it to LA (Tenorio). After LA fouled him, he completed the three-point play, he went right at his face, started screaming and jumping up and down. I tell you I’m not going to let my players take that.”

“I reviewed the tape. Mac just did what LA (Tenorio) did to (Jimmy) Alapag after he scored to make it 91-87 at the last two-minute mark,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.

“Seemingly, coach Tim was mad at his team and he’s turning his anger at me. But I won’t be affected by that. It may even serve as extra challenge for me,” said Cardona.

“I’m just being myself and I will continue to be that way. I’m an emotional player. I do those things with nothing personal against anybody. I’ve been that way since my college days at La Salle,” Cardona added.