Ginebra head coach Tim Cone begged to differ with the notion that his squad is now a dynasty following yet another conquest of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
The Gin Kings on Friday beat Meralco to rule the season-ending tilt for the fourth time in the last six seasons, collecting their sixth championship in the last 13 conferences to hike the ball club’s overall crown count to 14.
Then again, the league’s winningest mentor with 24 rings offered that winning multiple titles is what would take for a team to be called a dynasty.
“To me, dynasties are winning consecutive championships. Not Governors’ Cup, Governors’ Cup, Governors’ Cup,” Cone said moments after their 103-92 win in the Finals’ Game Six at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“It’s really winning multiple championships in a row, like the San Miguel team did in the last few years,” he added, referring to the remarkable runs made by San Miguel Beer from 2015-19 highlighted by a Philippine Cup five-peat.
“So, I don’t know. I hate to think that we think about those things. We don’t think about those things. We’re just thinking about this next conference.”
Cone, however, believes that the league’s most popular team remains capable of competing for more championships in conferences to come.
Photo by PBA Images
“Well, you know, we have a common thread there. The common thread in winning the Commissioner’s Cup and the Governor’s Cup, there’s a common thread, it’s Justin Brownlee. So, if we can continue to get Justin back and continue to keep him healthy, I don’t see a reason why we can’t continue to compete for championships,” he explained.
“I think you’re just starting to see the start of Scottie’s career, I think Scottie is just gonna get better from here. And, of course, if we can get Stanley back and continue to get the fountain of youth for LA – I don’t know where he finds, it but he’s got some magical place that he goes to and keeps finding the fountain of youth. I think he showed Jeff Chan where it was for a while.”
Now, as he mentioned, Cone and Ginebra have their sights set on the next conference. And the 64-year-old bench tactician wants to see his crew reassert their dominance in the All-Filipino wars in the 47th season.
The Barangay is definitely raring for that opportunity, given the unceremonious end to their reign in the Bacolor bubble. There, they lost hold of the Perpetual trophy after bowing to eventual champs TNT in the quarterfinals.
Photo by PBA Images
“I’d like to see Ginebra win the All-Filipino,” said Cone, who has five Philippine Cup titles. “I think that’s the one we all, LA always talks about. We were able to win in the bubble and that was nice – the first bubble, we won the All-Filipino.
“But we’d like to win the All-Filipino in front of our fans, that’s for sure. That’s the big crown, at this point.”
—
All PBA games stream live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.
The Finals are also livestreamed on SMART Sports.
