A victory ride Cone won’t miss
NOT only because there wasn’t a traditional victory ride, but this championship will be remembered more than any other as far as San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone is concerned.
The outspoken American on Friday night steered the Mixers to an 87-77 Game 7 victory over fancied Petron Blaze for the PBA Governors’ Cup title, the championship that pulled him alongside the legendary Baby Dalupan as the league’s winningest coaches of all time.
And unlike the 14 championships—highlighted by the Grand Slam with Alaska in 1996—that came before this, there wasn’t a photo of a victory ride to immortalize this one.
Maybe it was because his Mixers were dog-tired from giving it all they had all conference long.
“They didn’t play perfect basketball, but they played with perfect effort. Tonight was a perfect effort game,” Cone said after the Mixers, with Marc Pingris leading the way, denied the Boosters a 20th title before 21,319 fans at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“I guess we just had a little more left in the tank,” Cone added.
It cannot be denied that this championship is special because it tied him with Dalupan, his boyhood idol whom he used to curse while watching on TV because he was a Toyota fan.
“I used to blame Baby for beating my team,” Cone said of Dalupan, who won a chunk of his titles while handling the now defunct Crispa. “He’s such a humble man, so special. I wish he was here tonight so I could give him a hug.”
“It’s just an incredible journey (for me as a coach),” he said. “Just unbelievable.”
Pingris let it all hang out Friday night and had the entire team following his lead. And if one would talk of effort as far as winning championships are concerned, then this Game 7 would be a perfect study.
The 6-foot-5 workhorse finished with 19 points, 17 rebounds, five blocks and three assists and went on to be named unanimously by the PBA Press Corps as the Papa John’s Pizza-Finals MVP.
“He did all the work,” Cone said. “I did very little coaching tonight and just let my players play out there.”
