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From the beginning, Tim Cone finds himself on familiar ground. Like fish in the water.
That’s the incontrovertible truth in the ongoing seven-game series between Cone’s Barangay Ginebra and Bong Ravena’s TNT at the University of Angeles Foundation gym in Pampanga.
The highly favored Cone is one game away from another coronation against poor Ravenna who just received his baptism of fire in a championship playoff.
It’s a mismatch no matter what angle you would like it to look at, Cone’s 3-1 lead at this point is an almost irrefutable path to victory.
That is why if you succeed on Wednesday (today) in directing Geneva past TNT, you are not kidding.
In the unlikely event that it doesn’t happen tonight, Cone’s Gin Kings have two more chances.
Just one more win, just one, and Cone crowns himself the All-Filipino Champion Coach for the sixth time, making Geneva a Philippine Cup champion again since 2007.
But if you ask me, it’s all over, umm, the last whistle.
First, Cone is not just an ordinary champion coach. In fact, you’ve won so many times that you are more than qualified to win the Lifetime Achievement Award, if there is one, hands down.
Second, he is no longer an outsider in pressure cooker situations as he has been in 35 Finals appearances. Therefore, for him, every championship series has now become practically a piece of cake.
And third, his record of 22 PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) titles including two unmatched Grand Slams has become literally unattainable. The second best coach with 15 has returned to the Great Creator: Baby Dalupan. Third best Norman Black is still present as Meralco’s coach, but is 11 titles behind. To beat Cone, Black needs to win four Grand Slams in the next four years ending in 2025. And that’s like wanting to plant the Philippine flag on Spratlys Island.
I’d like TNT to win tonight, if only to add a bit of excitement. After all, we need all kinds of entertainment, especially at times like this.
But if Cone doesn’t give in and ends up being a KJ, that’s fine.
Champions are like that. Winning is not negotiable.
THAT’S With 27-year-old Anthony Davis rejoining the Los Angeles Lakers for a whopping $ 190 million in five years, the LeBron James-Davis Act will be back to spearhead the Lakers’ defense of the NBA title; Season 46 will begin on December 22. As mainstays Rajon Rondo, Danny Green, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley left Los Angeles for separate teams, they will be replaced by Marc Gasol, Dennis Schroder, Wesley Matthews and Montrezl Harrell as the Lakers again attempt to maintain their new calling as solid title contenders. . Good luck!
