The infamous Manila Clasico rivalry in Philippine pro basketball always turns out living up to their billing — classic.
But for Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, the esteemed rivalry has a special place in his heart, as he was able to man the sidelines for both teams and touch each and every player’s lives.
In this year’s Manila Clasico on a Christmas night, the Barangay eked out an 86-79 victory over the Star Hotshots, making it two Christmas wins in a row over their archrivals. Last year’s edition proved to be an all-time classic as Ginebra escaped Star with a 92-89 win after a buzzer-beating trey by LA Tenorio to send the Gin Kings to the 2015 Philippine Cup semis.
And for this year’s match, Cone feels that they were able to repay the fan support they have been receiving. after their victory that took place at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
“I’m glad we honored the fans with a good game, both sides, with a defensive battle, a lot of character in that game,” said Cone moments after the win that evened their slate to 3-3.
Cone has a lot to be happy about in tonight’s win, as they will head into the holiday break positively and come into the second half of the conference in January off a victory.
“Now it feels like a Merry Christmas,” quipped the Oregon-born mentor.
But with all the positivities he garnered tonight, Cone still feels a bit down for his former team, the Star Hotshots, whom he coached for four years that started in 2011.
“I feel for Ping (Marc Pingris) and PJ [Simon] and Mark [Barroca] and those guys. I know how hard it is to lose on this day. It really is hard to lose. It’s great to win, hard to lose.
“My heart goes out to those guys,” said Cone gloomily.
The Ginebra franchise serves as Cone’s third team in the PBA in his illustrious 27-year career. And even if it has been a year since leaving Star, Cone admitted that facing his old team is still hard for him.
“It’s always hard to go against your ex-team,” shared Cone. “Every time, and it’s been, what, six years since I coached Alaska? [It’s] still very hard for me to coach against Alaska.”
“And it’s still very hard for me to coach against Star.”
