Cone: Winless Ginebra not playing at high level

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Ginebra coach Tim Cone knows how much heat import Charles Garcia is getting after his side’s 0-2 start this 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

But Cone said the Gin Kings’ early struggles are not just because of Garcia.

“I know all eyes are on our import, but I just feel like it’s more than that,” Cone said as he tried to look for the right things to say after the Gin Kings’ 92-96 defeat to TNT on Sunday.

“Our locals are not playing as well either and we ‘re not just playing at a high level at this point.”

Garcia has been averaging 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists so far this conference, and although one could argue that another reinforcement could perform better, the locals have not been at their peak form as well.

Cone, however, remains non-committal if Ginebra would opt to replace Garcia, especially with Justin Brownlee already available after leading San Miguel Alab Pilipinas to the 2018 ASEAN Basketball League championship.

“That’s something that we’ll talk about internally,” he said. “It’s not something that we’ll talk about publicly. That’s something we’ll talk internally and you’ll know if and when or whatever we decide to do.”

Despite this loss, Cone still believes that the Gin Kings will still be one of the teams fighting for the championship at the end of the conference.

“We always get to slow starts and I always wonder why we do, but we have a lot to learn, a lot to teach on our system and we’re kind of vulnerable to that,” he said.

“We feel we’ll be there in the end. Obviously, we need to not fall too far behind in this conference, but we’ll find a way to get there in the end, I think.”