Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone expects the PBA teams’ level of play to rise higher when fans get to watch games live again after a long while.
The league is now ready to welcome spectators back in the stands starting on Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum after playing behind closed doors in the last two conferences due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“I think the level of play will go up,” he said.
“Doesn’t matter how many fans are in there. It’s gonna go up. Because that’s what we play for!”
Cone offered such a take based on what he had seen from the major leagues in the United States, when they started to have live audiences back after COVID-19 restrictions made them play in empty arenas for a while.
“I remember watching the NBA, Major League Baseball, and football (NFL) when they first started coming back to the United States. Their stadiums were like half-full or whatever,” recalled Cone.
“But still, you could see the whole level of play go up to another level from the time in the bubble. And I think you’ll see that,” he added.
Now that it’s the PBA’s turn to play in front of a cheering crowd, definitely, the team extremely excited for that is Ginebra, the league’s most popular team which takes pride in having legions of supporters that span generations.
“It’s been a long time! We’re all excited about having fans in the stands,” expressed the 63-year-old Cone. “Obviously, for Ginebra, we’re the most excited. But I tell you, every person in the PBA is excited about this.”
In fact, Cone even used the Ginebra faithful to push his wards heading into their 2021 Governors’ Cup clash with Alaska, Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena.
The Barangay did take care of business, coming from behind to frustrate the then-streaking Aces, 80-77, to start their repeat bid on a high note.
“Before the game, I said, ‘Today, we gotta take care of our game ourselves. Next game, we’re gonna have some help from our fans,’” he said.
The defending champions will welcome their fans at the Big Dome on Friday with a duel with NorthPort at 6:00 p.m. in the main event of a twin-bill.
