I WAS on board an FX taxi in Cubao when I tried to give multi-titled Alaska coach Tim Cone a ring.
It was a Thursday, noon time. Under an angry summer sun, I was hoping Coach Tim doesn’t have the temper of a beaten mentor few hours after his Aces were swept by coach Ryan Gregorio’s Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants.
I’ve always been Cone’s regular caller. He’s one of those quotable coaches so to speak, as if we’re gathering pearls from his mouth. Which is why I believe he won’t mind If I call him up even when the wounds of his team’s setback was still fresh and yet to heal even for a day.
“Hello Rey, it sounds like your voice is breaking down and there’s some sort a sound of air,” said Cone, who was right when he mentioned a sound of air is coming from my direction as a fan was turned on by the cab driver to increase the coolness of air-conditioning at the packed FX taxi.
I asked him about his thoughts on the finals and the winningest mentor among active coaches broke down to details the main reasons why Purefoods beat Alaska and why his legacy was now inflicted by a four-game sweep in more than 20 years of coaching in the PBA.
“We’ve tried everything we could do and Purefoods just beat us with their energy, their size and their speed,” said Cone. “Purefoods truly deserves this victory.”
It was the first time Cone received such a beating, but the series might never been called as a blowout as Games 2 and 3 were decided by last-second baskets. But it was the third time Gregorio has able to pull off a victory over his much heralded rival, who has 12 league titles.
Asked about any regrets in the championship series, Cone could only hope he could find ways to beat Purefoods, particularly Gregorio, who was described by the veteran mentor as one of the best young coaches today.
“He kept me guessing in the series and at times made our team look bad,” said Cone.
This is not the first time the younger Gregorio has defeated Cone in a best-of-seven series.
In 2002, Gregorio was an interim mentor and temporarily took over from Eric Altamirano, who was on loan to the Busan Asian Games. In the Governors Cup finals, Ryan lost the first two games but won four of the next five games to complete a Cinderella Finish.
In 2005-06 Philippine Cup, the Giants had their collective backs against the wall and were one win away from being booted out of from the finals race. Yet, Gregorio found a way to gather his team’s strength as they won four straight games to edge the Aces.
But this one could be the most painful.
Throughout the conversion when the FX taxi has reached the boundary of Quezon City and Manila (Welcome Rotonda), Cone gave an answer that somehow surprised me. I don’t know how did I ask about his security of tenure and how I would love to see him coaching for another long stretch.
But the setback could only define Cone’s fate with Alaska Milk is now uncertain.
“There’s no excuse for the setback. Either we lose by one point or by 20 points, the bottom line there is that you still lost games. And in an organization like ours, there’s no guarantee in terms of security once you started losing. What more when you got swept in the finals?,” said Cone.
Cone, the longest tenured mentor in the PBA, has his contract set to expire this July. He admitted that his fate as Alaska coach remains uncertain, especially after the team was swept in the finals.
So what does the future lies ahead for Cone if ever he won’t be given a new term? For Cone, coaching is his love and his life.
“I love coaching and I would love to coach any team,” added Cone, who is second in the all-time list for most number of championship behind his idol, the legendary Baby Dalupan. “But if Alaska would want me to be there, then I would stay. Alaska has been my home in the PBA and the leaders in the organization are my mentors.”
Although there was an assurance coming from Alaska team manager Joaqui Trillo that “there will be no problem having Cone resigned for a new pact” Cone’s performance will be definitely evaluated. And the finals setback could be the jumpstart.
“We had a great run this conference. We made it 11-1 in the elimination and ended up No.1 at the end of the double-round elims. We were so sharp until the semifinals where we swept Ginebra until we finally met our match in Purefoods, which has definitely posed a lot of trouble for us,” said Cone.
In 20 years of coaching the Aces, Cone experienced being a winner -- and becoming a bitter loser.
“I swept a team and was swept as well. I fought in short series and seven-game series and won and lost quite a number of them. In 20 years of coaching you will experience a lot of those,” he added.
For 20 years, Cone and Alaska had been synonymous to success. Together, they were like Chad and Jeremy on the microphone, Dolphy and Panchito when cracking a joke on the boob tube and the Cape Crusaders on a night mission.
Whatever happens to the partnership – whether Cone and the Aces will part ways or continue their mutual relationship together that has been tested against time, it will definitely be interesting to see the man would pick himself up, bounce back strong and reaffirm his status as one of the game’s best bench tacticians the league had ever seen.
