Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings coach Tim Cone during the PBA Governors Cup game. –PBA images
Rivals and allies alike, Tim Cone and Chot Reyes likely have little or no tricks up their sleeves in the coaching battle that will be one of the subplots of the PBA Governors’ Cup Final. Between Barangay Ginebra and TNT.
“I know him, he knows me,” Cone said after Sunday’s 102-99 victory over the San Miguel Beermen in Game 6 of the semifinal series at Smart. He spoke after the Kings set up a No. 7 title showdown with Reyes’ Tropang Giga. Araneta Coliseum
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This will be the seventh time the two have met on the PBA’s biggest stage, since Cone and B-Meg (now Magnolia) defeated Reyes’ TNT in a classic overtime thriller Game 7 in the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup. becomes.
Cone and Reyes are also working together under coach Gilas Pilipinas at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and will break a 3-3 tie in a championship showdown that many will see as a battle of attacking philosophies.
But Cone, known for his modernized triangle offense over the past few decades, has shown everyone over the years that he values defense.
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After seeing how the Tropang Giga made it to the finals, Cone will have a solid idea of what kind of games TNT will face starting with Game 1 on Sunday at Ynares Center in Antipolo. was completed. Cone knows it’s not just Reyes’ offensive-minded dribble-drive system that could cause problems for Ginebra.
TNT Tropang Giga coach Chot Reyes during the PBA Governors Cup. –PBA images
“He’s done a great job of turning the team into a defensive powerhouse,” Cone said.
That was evident in TNT’s campaign numbers-wise, as they allowed the fewest points per game (89.9 points) and ranked second in field goal percentage (42.01 points) behind Magnolia (40.0 points).
Defense is now important
TNT also forced opponents into 16.63 turnovers, also second only to Northport’s 19.2.
Mr. Cohn said that this aspect has a lot to do with the presence of Ronde Hollis-Jefferson, who handles all imports for Tropang Giga.
“He built a team around Ronde’s personality and they became a very good defensive team. Hats off to him for that,” Cohn said. “And that’s something we have to really fight for when we play against them.”
Hollis-Jefferson’s workhorse effort counters Justin Brownlee’s tendency to step up big in the clutch as another interesting sidelight to watch in the title showdown, a rematch of the 2023 Governors Cup Finals won by TNT will try.
In the Finals, held in April 2023, Hollis-Jefferson and Tropang Giga handed Brownlee his first loss in the Finals after a Michael Jordan-like 6-0 victory in the PBA Championship Series. brought.
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It didn’t take long for Brownlee to exact some measure of revenge on Hollis-Jefferson. Six months later, the beloved naturalized import led the Cone-coached Gilas Pilipinas crew to a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the expense of Hollis-Jefferson. Jordan in the final. INQ
