Ginebra coach Tim Cone. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Christian Standhardinger’s arrival at Barangay Ginebra has made an already strong team into a more formidable one, but head coach Tim Cone doesn’t want to hype up any championship hopes this 2021.
The Gin Kings were able to capture their first Philippine Cup in 13 years after taking down TNT in five games inside the bubble in 2020 and they did it without center Greg Slaughter.
Standhardinger was picked up from NorthPort in exchange for Slaughter in a switch of top big men but Cone said that a lineup will only be deemed strong if the players go harmoniously together.
“The game is not played on paper. This is not a fantasy league where you just put in the best players and take their stats and then you win because they put up great stats,” said Cone as per PBA.ph.
“That’s not the way real games are played.”
Standhardinger was a force to be reckoned with in the previous two conferences. He won the 2019 Governors’ Cup Best Player of the Conference and followed it up with a solid personal Philippine Cup campaign when he averaged 19.9 points and a league-best 12.0 rebounds.
The Batang Pier, though, went a miserable 1-10 in the eliminations.
But Cone knows talent alone won’t ensure championships and he wants to see Standhardinger build chemistry with his new team.
“There’s a lot more going to like chemistry, the sharing of the ball, the off-court staff that goes on. It’s not just played on the paper, it’s played on the court. And the game changes when you get on the court,” said Cone who owns 23 championships in the PBA.
“I’d like to think that we are a contender, but we won’t know until we get out to the floor and actually start doing the work because it really comes down to the work you’re going to do day-to-day. That’s going to decide whether you’re going to be a contender or you’re going to be a championship team.”