Cone brings balance to Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines - New Ginebra coach Tim Cone noticed one thing missing in the PBA’s most popular club that has not won a crown in seven years.

“There has to be balance,” said Cone as he formally accepted Ginebra’s coaching reins from key officials of San Miguel Corporation.

“Ginebra has a strong lineup. But I find it a little unbalanced,” Cone said of the team that boasts some of the league’s big names.

There’s Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, whom Cone referred to as the “Big Two,” and Mark Caguiao and LA Tenorio.

“What you have on paper is not what you have on the floor,” said Cone, winner of a record 18 titles in the PBA.

Ginebra had also gone from one coach to another, a handful of them, since Jong Uichico left the team after guiding it to the 2008 Fiesta Cup crown.

Ginebra had gone winless since then.

Cone was called in, a call that came all the way from the top, to help turn things around for Ginebra, and had to vacate his post with the Star Hotshots.

Jason Webb, a former PBA player who tried his hand as a game commentator, will coach the Hotshots in the coming season. 

The expectations are high.

“Coach Tim is the greatest PBA coach. You can never fill in his shoes. I’m looking at it as filling a vacancy but not replacing coach Tim,” he said.

Cone, grand-slam champion with Alaska Milk in 1996 and San Mig Coffee in 2013, is now in a position to bring Ginebra back on top.

He knows it’s not going to happen overnight.

“It may take a little time. It always does,” said Cone as SMC top executives Butch Alejo, Bernie Marquez, Rene Pardo, Roberto Non and Alfrancis Chua listened.

“We’re not going to hurry because when you’re in a hurry you make short cuts,” he said.

Like in any endeavor, there’s no guarantee.

“You can never guarantee (title) but the challenge is there. We’re going to look at the lineup, cover our weaknesses and build on our strength,” he said.

“But there has to be a better balance. Maybe one or two conferences you have to figure out who you want in the team,” said Cone.

He’s bringing in his top assistant with Star, Richard del Rosario, to Ginebra, and wished he could bring a few players, too.

“But you can’t do that because that could damage the Hotshots. We’re trying to get both of them (Ginebra and Star) up there,” he said.

Cone, winner of 13 titles with Alaska and five with B-Meg and San Mig Coffee, was asked if he wanted James Yap over at Ginebra.

He smiled and said, “A trade is in the works.”