Tim Cone found himself in almost the same position as he was over three decades ago during Sunday’s PBA Season 49 Draft in Makati.
He and Ginebra picked RJ Abarrientos at No. 3 in the proceedings, 32 years after the young star’s uncle, the great Johnny, was also chosen third by Alaska in the 1993 Draft, which was spearheaded by top selection Jun Limpot.
“Third pick for RJ, third pick for Johnny, both Abarrientos. Kinda poetic, we thought,” reflected the league’s most successful mentor to reporters during the draft held at the Glorietta Activity Center.
“Really nice story, actually.”
The whole situation, for Cone, was reminiscent of the 1933 Draft, in which he and the Milkmen staff were going after size to bolster the lineup.
According to the 65-year-old, Alaska wanted to get Vic Pablo with the third pick but the former FEU star was taken at no. 2 by Ginebra San Miguel.
“I kinda compared it to the time when back in 1992, when we were drafting with Alaska and we had the third pick. There was Jun Limpot at no. 1, Vic Pablo at no. 2, and we were hoping for Vic Pablo – we had no. 3,” he recalled.
“We were hoping and hoping and hoping for Vic Pablo and they took Vic Pablo. We went, ‘Oh, man!” We have to take Johnny Abarrientos. And so we took Johnny, and of course, we never looked back,” he added.
Cone and the Kings considered adding more size to their squad with the no. 3 pick as well, especially after trading MVP contender Christian Standhardinger as part of a mega deal with Terrafirma the day before the Draft.
“Because as you know, we’re always obsessed with size,” he said. “We always wanna get the big player first. So that’s something we battle with.
“We wanted that size, especially after trading Christian, you know, a big hole there, so we really debated on it.”
But after discussions amongst themselves, the Ginebra coaches decided to use their precious pick to take the former Gilas Pilipinas guard.
(C) PBA Images
“We were looking at maybe four players that we felt if Baltazar went 1 and Barefield went 2, there was a choice for us of about four players that we were looking at,” Cone shared “We went back and forth, back and forth.
“One coach liked this guy, another coach liked that guy, and then later on, they would flip. It went on for a few days. But the bottomline was, we just felt that RJ would be an elite player at his position. Maybe even a transcendent player.
“He has the potential to be that kind of player. He was just somebody we couldn’t pass up, even though we would’ve liked the size of some of the other players,” added Cone, whose team picked a total of three players in the Draft.
Needless to say, Cone feels thrilled with what lies ahead for the Barangay, especially now that he will be coaching another Abarrientos.
He’s excited to see, too, how the career of the 24-year-old former overseas import will pan out now that he’s in Asia’s pioneering pro league.
“You know, it’s a different game now than it was back then, so it’s kinda hard to compare them because they’re from different eras. But Johnny, without a doubt, was the best of his era,” said the two-time Grand Slam winner.
“We’ll see how RJ is in two or three or four years – can he raise to that same level that Johnny was?” added Cone.
“But he’s gonna get that opportunity with us. We recognize him as a potential star. So, we’re giving him that opportunity to try to shine.”
