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In a PBA bubble that tested the limits of patience, stamina and endurance, it was clear from the start that nothing would be guaranteed and everything would be twice as difficult.
There is no precedent for the whole experience. So after Barangay Geneva concluded a five-game TNT conquest in the 2020 Philippine Cup Finals on Wednesday, one might understand coach Tim Cone, the ever-gracious owner of a record 23 titles and two Grand Slams, for wanting to keep this. rare slice of history just for him and the Gin Kings.
“Hopefully, there will only be one bubble championship. And if there is only one bubble championship, we get it. And that’s great,” Cone told members of the media moments after Geneva lifted the All-Filipino trophy for the first time. once in 13 years.
Geneva entered the shortened season as the title favorite, but could have balked at that idea when the team’s season began nearly two months ago given the state of affairs.
As deep as the Gin Kings were, preparing for a two-month basketball exile without three of their biggest hosts in LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, was far from optimal. Tenorio, who underwent offseason surgery, and Aguilar later followed suit days before the conference began, but it was apparent early on that they both had some way to go before they got back into peak form and game time. .
In a compressed tournament that didn’t give them the privilege of time, that spelled a bit of trouble.
“I was talking to (assistant) coach Kirk (Collier) a few minutes ago, and we laughed and said we had no idea that we were going to be in this situation. I remember going into the bubble,” Cone said. And I was like, ‘Can we make the playoffs? Can we avoid being eliminated? ‘ “.
They clearly did much more than that.
“Right now it’s still hitting me a little bit. It’s a bit surreal, because the experience is so different,” Cone said. “When we go back to Manila and we look back at this one, I think we will be surprised how all of this evolved and how it all came together and how we really ended up winning that championship.”
Much of the Gin Kings’ success could be attributed to the “innovative thinking” that Cone and the rest of the team embraced in the empty gymnasiums of the Angeles University Foundation. That led to many key moments from different players at various points in the conferences, especially during the early stages of the Philippine Cup, where Geneva outplayed Tenorio and Aguilar to sweep the first four games.
“Prince Caperal stepped up and played really well. Stanley (Pringle) led us. Scottie (Thompson) played well. We had our rookie Arvin Tolentino taking us too. And that just left us where we are now.” . I think those first four games got us to where we are now, “Cone said.
That set the tone for an 8-3 elimination round streak that proved enough to lead the Gin Kings to the top seed going into the playoffs. Getting to the final was a completely different challenge; Geneva first had to dispatch a brave Rain or Shine team a day after Typhoon Ulysses devastated the country, then had to spend five games in the semifinals against a Meralco Bolts team desperate to end their misery at the hands of a family torturer.
And then there was TNT.
If the series seemed disappointing, it’s only because a showdown between two franchises yearning to end their respective droughts didn’t live up to original expectations. Dispatching a tough, fire-at-will TNT team in five games was still tough, but it was supposed to be more excruciating than this. The predictions had the best-of-seven series on the tightrope with no clear winner until the last bell, but the predictions also didn’t predict the unfortunate injuries stars Ray Parks (calf) and Jayson Castro (bone spurs) would sustain.
“I know a lot of people will see Talk ‘N Text and say they have injuries, which is absolutely true. It’s really difficult to train and win without your best players on the court, especially without time to really adapt and change their system or whatever. necessary, “Cone said. “But I thought the Talk ‘N Text coaching staff trained brilliantly with what they had. Truly, brilliantly with what they had.”
“Winning the championship is really tough,” Cone continued. “There are a lot of things that go into winning the championship, and one of them is health, and we were lucky to keep our health and we were lucky that Talk ‘N Text didn’t maintain its health. But that’s basketball, that’s right. It goes. I’ve been on the other side of that. I’ve lost championships due to injured players, so I know how difficult it is. “
Still, it wouldn’t be fair to dismiss their title given everything they had to go through. Geneva paid off her debts by playing tremendous basketball while staying healthy. The road to the final was not easy, as some critics would say online. It was a tour de force, a consequence of strenuous effort and painstaking attention to detail that would have put the Gin Kings ahead of anyone most of the time, regardless of the circumstances.
“I thought our guys did a really good job staying healthy, working hard to stay healthy. I thought we had a good balance between work and rest, and that got us through to the end,” Cone said. “We always say in our team that our health is our weapon. We feel that if we are healthy, we always have the opportunity to win, we have the opportunity to compete for championships.”
“I can’t tell you how difficult it was. It was like pulling teeth to win the championship tonight. We fought each other, we fought Talk ‘N Text. It was a really, really difficult mental game,” the coach continued. “It was quite a mental challenge to be out there and try to win this game tonight. And when the time came, we won this game tonight. It wasn’t pretty, but we won it on character.”
The results are well deserved and hard-earned. For Cone, who already owns a plethora of PBA records, he adds another notch to his belt after beating Robert Jaworski for being the winningest coach in the franchise’s colorful history.
“I didn’t even know that. I had no idea what was going on. Wow, what an accomplishment,” Cone said. “Just being mentioned with the greats, like Baby Dalupan and Sonny Jaworski, it gives me goose bumps to be mentioned in those names. I never would have thought about it, honestly. I never would have thought that I would even be in Geneva and being around the fans and Hearing all the comments and adulation from Sonny Jaworski. Even now, it’s just amazing. “
This title also marks the first for a group of players, especially for Tenorio, 36, who won his first All-Filipino title after 14 seasons in the PBA.
“You know, right after the game that we hugged, he came up to me and said, ‘Finally! I told you we can get this totally Filipino (title).’ As we hugged, I said the last time we hugged was in the championship (Governor’s Cup 2019-20), and he told me when we hugged: ‘This was good, coach, but we have to win the All-Filipino. He was the driving force of this whole bubble, ”shared Cone.
“I only asked for an all-Filipino championship, but God gave me a bonus,” said Tenorio, who was named Series Finals MVP, in Filipino on the podium.
What comes next has yet to be resolved. A title defense will be made in April 2021, and some roster adjustments in preparation for a tougher course could be necessary for Geneva between those months. But for the moment, that is neither here nor there. Cone and the Gin Kings right now can surely afford to sit back and bask in the glory of winning it all during the PBA’s toughest season to date.
“I think it will be a great pride to win. And it’s not just that, it’s one after another,” Cone said, referring to the Governor’s Cup title they won years ago last January. “Of course the straight ones are (11) months apart, but it’s still a straight championship and then the first All-Filipino in a long time. Super, super special.”
After an arduous bubble race that pushed them to the limit, Cone and the Gin Kings are ready to come out with a lasting piece of history that is just theirs no matter what.
“This was a unique experience and I cannot thank the PBA enough for allowing us to play the game we love in a safe and competitive way. But, honestly, we are ready to go home. After two and a half months, we are ready to go. go home, “Cone said.
“Twenty or 30 years from now, when they look back and say, ‘You know that bubble championship?’ They will remember our team because we had the most unique championship in PBA history. It’s really cool. “
