Tim Cone was clearly in no mood to be sentimental after LA Tenorio began his PBA coaching journey triumphantly — against his ex-team.
The league’s winningest mentor did admit that he was glad to see one of his former players make a good account of himself in his debut, but offered nothing more than that as he was a picture of frustration with how his Ginebra fared.
“I’m happy for LA, sad for myself,” he told reporters on the heels of their 80-73 loss in the Season 50 opener at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Sunday night.
Cone said that coaching against Tenorio, one of his most trusted on-court extensions in the last 13 years, was merely another game for him — a similar approach he had whenever he faced his other pals, such as Chot Reyes.
“We’re friends. It’s the same thing when I played against Chot Reyes or Jeff Cariaso, or John-John Cardel, or whoever else is out there… Willy Wilson. They’re all my ex-players, ex-coaches — Luigi Trillo, you know. It’s the same,” he said.
That’s why, for the 67-year-old, this latest chapter of the Manila Clasico could mean more for Tenorio than for him, given that it’s his first-ever game coaching in the league after competing for nearly two decades as a player.
“It’s much bigger for LA than it was for me tonight. Put it that way. It was his first game, he’s gonna remember it. I’m gonna forget this one really quickly,” he said.
Cone’s sights are set on the games ahead, but this loss surely stung, as he didn’t like the way his wards started the match — and the season.
The crowd darlings, before a solid crowd at the Big Dome that also came in to watch the exciting opening rites, yielded the game’ first 10 points to their rivals before finding themselves staring at a 21-7 deficit late in the first.
They did manage to make it close and even threatened by chopping a 63-48 Hotshots lead to just six twice inside the last nine minutes, but could no longer cut the gap further as Mark Barroca & Co. had answers.
“Too many turnovers, not enough effort on defense, didn’t execute tonight, didn’t play a very good game at all,” rued Cone.
“Give credit to them, they were more prepared than we were. They looked sharper, looked better.”
Cone wants to see better showings from his troop, particularly from his first group, as they left a lot to be desired in their season debut.
“Nothing positive tonight. I didn’t see anybody really play well tonight. Our first group has to pick it up. We can’t get off to a bad start like we did tonight. It all starts from our first group — you know, Scottie and the rest,” he said.
It doesn’t help that their next four games will be tough — TNT, Meralco, San Miguel to mark the PBA’s return to Dubai, and NLEX, in that order.
“We got a tough schedule to start this conference with five games against MVP and San Miguel teams, all first five games. We gotta pick it up,” he said.
“We can’t play like this and expect to have a good record against those five guys especially now starting 0-1.”
#WATCH: “I’M HAPPY FOR HIM, I’M SAD FOR MYSELF”
Tim Cone downplays playing against his former player LA Tenorio, saying that it’s just any other game for him 🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/120a8o53RM
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA50 #RivalrySunday pic.twitter.com/1ZKUKNMS1T
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) October 5, 2025
