Cone umukit ng kasaysayan pinantayan ang 15 PBA crown ni Dalupan

MANILA, Philippines - Ang legendary coach na si Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan ang unang nakatapat ni Tim Cone para sa korona ng 1990 PBA Third Confe­rence.

Tinalo ng Purefoods ni Dalupan ang Alaska ni Cone, 3-2, bagamat hu­ma­wak ang Milkmen ng mala­king 2-0 bentahe sa kanilang best-of-five championship series.

Noong Biyernes ay ganap na pinantayan ni Cone ang 15 PBA championship ni Dalupan matapos igiya ang San Mig Coffee sa titulo ng 2013 PBA Governors’ Cup.

“I’m so humbled because my idol Baby Dalupan, when I was gro­wing up here, he was the guy, he was the man we all watched, and watched him coached Crispa and even Great Taste later on,” ani Cone kay Dalupan.

“It’s so humbling to be able to tie a great man like that. I just remembered back then that I was intimidated coaching against him,”  dagdag pa ng 55-anyos na American mentor sa dating coach ng Crispa, Great Taste at Purefoods na si Da­lupan.

Inamin ni Cone na ang Toyota ang kanyang kina­kampihan sa PBA at hindi ang Crispa ng 90-anyos na si Dalupan.

“Crispa would beat To­yota so many times, so you understand why they would beat them and you would blame it on the coach. And so I blame it on Baby that he’d beaten my team,” ani Cone.

Umaasa si Cone na may mga PBA coach pang makakasunod sa alamat ni Dalupan.

“I hope I can have the same impact on some of the young guys out there right now,” sabi ni Cone.

Ang 13 kampeonato ni Cone, kasama ang Grand Slam noong 1996, ay ibi­nigay niya sa Alaska bago akayin ang B-Meg (ngayon ay San Mig Coffee) sa korona noong 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Tinalo ng Mixers ang Petron Blaze, 87-77, sa Game Seven para wakasan ang kanilang best-of-seven titular showdown sa 4-3.

Naitulak ng Boosters ang serye sa Game Seven nang kunin ang 99-88 tagumpay sa Game Six noong nakaraang Miyerkules.