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Celebrated head coach Tim Cone is expected to break Ginebra’s championship drought that now spans eight seasons, but the multi-titled mentor stressed that for this to happen, he needs the Gin Kings to “buy in” to the system that he brings.
Cone’s triangle offense is tried-and-tested, having made him the winningest head coach in the PBA with 18 championships, including a Grand Slam with Alaska and Purefoods.
He is being tasked to bring that winning tradition to Ginebra, the league’s most popular team, and Cone is hopeful that the Gin Kings will be quick to welcome his system.
“It’s really going to come down if I can get the players to buy in to what we’re going to do,” he explained, as quoted by PBA.ph. “I know we talk about the run-and-gun and such, but it’s really to get the guys to buy in defensively.”
“It’s always a process to get the buy-in going with the players,” he added.
Cone said that at this point in his coaching career, he believes that he can teach his players the triangle offense in just a few weeks and they will be able to execute it well.
“But we will continue to develop and develop, to always get better,” he said. “That’s what I like about the triangle. It’s improving. It never stagnates, it never stops.”
Cone also wants to get to know Ginebra’s veteran guard, Mark Caguioa, in the same way that he had to get to know and understand James Yap when he first transferred to Purefoods.
“I’m excited to know who Mark Caguioa is, what kind of guy he’s like,” Cone said in another PBA.ph report.
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
