Cone and San Mig Coffee: Alone on the mountaintop

(“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what the storm’s all about.” – Haruki Murakami)

Tim Cone’s legacy of building champions is unsurpassed in the history of Philippine basketball. In three short years with the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers, he has replicated his success with Alaska Milk 18 years ago. But underneath that success lies a tremendous work ethic, undimmed passion, superhuman sacrifice, and the ability to mold personalities and turn superstars into leaders. Beneath the gleaming moments in a flood of camera flashes, confetti and balloons were years of seeking and selfless giving on the part of the players. Cone is the only head coach who handles practices every minute, aside from his one-on-one sessions with the players before letting his assistants work with them, and his players respond with their best.

For the 23 years that Tim was with Alaska, Purefoods was on the other side of the fence. Since it was allowed to directly recruit Alvin Patrimonio, Jojo Lastimosa, Jerry Codiñera and Glen Capacio when it entered the league in 1998, the Hotdogs were an instant contender, a perennial champion in the All-Filipino. For Alaska, that was the last battlefield to be conquered. Purefoods was always top dog in the All-Filipino, Alaska owned the Third Cnference with Sean Chambers. Purefoods had the locals who took them to the top right away. Alaska had the long, smouldering build-up to its breathtaking run in the 1990’s, the zenith of which being the 1996 Grand Slam which put Johnny Abarrientos, Lastimosa and Bong Hawkins on the Mythical Team.

But lately, the new San Mig Coffee Mixers started seeking a new identity. They had the formidable James Yap, a  singular talent who admitted he admired and emulated Samboy Lim. They had Marc Pingris, who would do anything to help his team win. They had the ageless PJ Simon. They had Mark Barroca, who wanted to prove he belonged on a champion team. Then they got Joe Devance, one of Tim’s favorite players at Alaska. On the bench, a platoon of players who had been in situations where they were underused or unappreciated. So many similarities, yet still so different. So young, and yet so full of promise. Most of all, so intriguing a prospect to coach.

“The only difference for us was that the knowledge was very elementary on that level,” Cone says of his first arrival at San Mig Coffee. “I’ve always talked about the triangle as something that builds. It gets better and better the more you know it. It builds on itself. And sometimes you just have to let it go. I thought the players bought into it a lot more, a lot faster.”

After a slow start, San Mig won eight games in a row, a healthy sign for a team learning a new language. 

“That kind of solidified it for everybody, you know, the players, the management, the fans,” reveals Cone, who has always set a deadline for himself to find success with the triangle offense. “ ‘cause the triangle, frankly, has not got a great reputation around the world. It turns up in the NBA, Phil Jackson is the only one who had run it. NBA doesn’t do it, Europe doesn’t do it.”

But what made this go-around much easier was that, aside from the legacy of owning a PBA record number of championships, was that Cone had the opportunity to restore relationships with those who had helped him build those championships with Alaska. Tim called Johnny Abarrientos, his MVP from 1996, who was traded in a controversial fashion a few short years later in a series of events that had fractured their friendship. He called back Jeff Cariaso, who retired after they won their last championships together with the Aces. Unknown to many, the two had had a falling out, since Tim was transitioning to younger players. But he knew that Jeff was always the one the players could run to if they had any resentments. At Alaska, Jeff was a natural leader, bridging the differences between the homegrown players and the Fil-Ams.

With those legendary players as his assistants and four-time MVP Patrimonio as team manager, when Tim spoke, the players listened. And even when they didn’t, all he had to do was turn to one of his assistants or even a veteran like Raffy Reavis and remind the rebellious youngsters how many championships they had experienced, and that listening well would get them there, too. Also very important to Tim was having Devance on the floor, his de facto non-traditional point guard, who sometimes was even more impatient than he was in getting the players on the same page.

Initially, the Mixers found their foil against Rain or Shine, who saw them as soft, and beat them in the finals in 2012 for the Elasto Painters’ first title. But that was then, and this is now. Cone also found the tough Marqus Blakely, who knew the triangle, and who he hoped would keep coming back for more success.

As they approached the indelible and seemingly impossible task of creating another Grand Slam, the Mixers agreed not to talk about it, they were forbidden from using the words “grand” and “slam” together, under pain of a heavy fine. Of course, they were thinking about it; who wouldn’t be? One reason why people didn’t really think of the Grand Slam aside from the fact that it had been so long, was that the Mixers were always in the middle of the pack at the end of the eliminations, mever finishing higher than fourth this season. People were constantly looking the other way.

But even through its success this year, San Mig was going through transitions, as Cariaso was promoted to head coach of Barangay Ginebra, becoming the fifth Cone assistant since Aric del Rosario, Chot Reyes, Joel Banal and Luigi Trillo to get called up. This brought in Jason Webb to fill in the shoes vacated by Cariaso and Olsen Racela. Tim also shared this journey with his son Kevin, who was born during the Alaska Grand Slam run. That made his rare experience even more special.

“This may sound corny, but this was really for the players. I’m so happy that they were able to experience this. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but this is really special.”

The San Mig Super Coffee Mixers have now joined the pantheon of legendary teams in the PBA: the Crispa Redmanizers, San Miguel Beermen and Alaska Milkmen. All who’ve done it will tell you what a journey it was, that it will stand out from all the incomparable accomplishments in the PBA from yesterday, today and tomorrow, as will Tim Cone’s winning record of two Gand Slams and 18 championships.

The scary part is, they’re not done yet.