Slaughter excited for Ginebra after first meeting with Cone

MANILA, Philippines -- With new coach Tim Cone now at the helm for Barangay Ginebra, youthful big man Greg Slaughter is hopeful that the American mentor’s winning touch would rub on the Gin Kings beginning next season.

Slaughter, the 6-foot-11 big man out of Ateneo said he met with Cone over lunch on Thursday and talked on a variety of topics.

“It’ just a real sit-down and a two-hour talk with coach Tim,” Slaughter told Philstar.com on Friday.

“It’s really the first time for me to be with him, except during the (PBA) All-Star last year, but other than that, we didn’t talk that much.”

With 18 PBA championships tucked under Cone’s belt, Slaughter said every Ginebra player can learn a lot from the American coach, who just two seasons back, guided Star (formerly San Mig) to the grand slam finish.

“Coach Tim is a winner. And that’s what I wanna do with Ginebra. I wanna win,” he added.

The Cebuano big man said since his college days at the University of Visayas, followed by Ateneo, and through the PBA D-League with NLEX, he has been accustomed to winning.

But since entering the league two years ago as the PBA’s top draft pick in 2013, he has not come close to playing in the Finals.

“I’m not satisfied with five quarterfinals. So now that we have the winningest coach in history, I want to win and learn from coach,” stressed the 27-year-old Slaughter.

Slaughter said he’s happy to see his fellow Cebuano June Mar Fajardo win two championships with San Miguel Beer last season, and subsequently earning his second straight MVP trophy.

Fajardo’s success last season is something, Slaughter hopes to experience under Cone, who is expected to execute his patented triangle offense at Ginebra.

“We’ve (Gin Kings) already run this (triangle offense) before under (former Ginebra) coach Jeff (Cariaso). But I’m excited to learn it again under coach Tim,” added the former PBA Rookie of the Year.