Tim Cone. INQUIRER File Photo
Newly-instated Ginebra coach Tim Cone knows the pressure that comes from handling the coaching reins for the league’s most popular ballclub.
And this early, he wants to temper all the grand expectations and would rather show the fans that winning a crown in the PBA takes time and work.
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“I think the hardest thing for a Ginebra coach is trying to meet expectations,” Cone said at the press conference announcing his appointment Thursday.
“We want to kind of dampen the expectations for a little bit. It’s going to take a little bit of time,” the 57-year-old coach said. “We didn’t turn around Purefoods right away, and Alaska took a lot of years to get going.”
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With the Ginebra core he’s inheriting, Cone is optimistic of the team’s chances in the future and believes that this team can really contend with the bests of the league.
But if the Gin Kings want better results, it would boil down to the players following Cone’s lead, especially defensively.
“You can’t necessarily guarantee (a title), but the challenge is there. It’s really going to come down if I can get the players to buy in to what we’re going to do. I know we talk about the run-and-gun and such, but it’s really to get the guys to buy in defensively. Then we’re gonna do something good and we’re gonna do it quickly. It’s always a process to get the buy in going with the players,” he said.
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But more than anything else, he asks for the fans’ patience in this new era for Ginebra.
“We just have to manage expectations to the fans. It’s a process we’re gonna do every day. The key is building a proper foundation and building from there,” Cone said. “We’ll try to be quick, but we won’t be in a hurry.”