Cone wala nang itatago kay Jolas sa PBA Finals

MANILA, Philippines — Matagal nagkasama sina Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone at TNT Tropang Giga interim coach Jojo Lastimosa sa Alaska.

Kaya naman aminado ang 65-anyos na si Cone na kabisado na ng 59-an­yos na si Lastimosa ang kanyang mga galawan sa bench.

“Jojo’s my team captain for years and my assistant coach for years and I would be happy to go up against him,” ani Cone. “And it’s gonna be difficult because he knows me like the back of his hands.”

Magtutuos ang Gin Kings at Tropang Giga sa best-of-seven championship series ng 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup na magsisimula sa Abril 9 sa Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Winalis ng Ginebra ang San Miguel, 3-0 habang sinibak ng TNT ang Meralco, 3-1, sa kani-kanilang best-of-five semifinals showdown.

“We need to just focus on what can we do, what we can each do to improve the probabilities that we can be victorious,” ani Gin Kings’ big man Christian Standhardinger.

Hangad ni Cone ang kanyang ika-26 PBA crown bilang coach at pipiliting igiya ang Ginebra sa pang-16 titulo habang ito ang unang finals appearance ni Lastimosa bilang interim coach.

Ito rin ang unang pag­haharap nina Cone at Lastimosa bilang mga coaches sa PBA Finals.

“He’s been there. He’s done that. Everyone is ral­lying for them and everybody is expecting that Ginebra will win this championship anyway,” ani Lastimosa sa dati niyang mentor.

Idinagdag ng 10-time champion player na dapat nilang patibayin ang depensa sa pagsagupa sa Gin Kings sa serye.

“Right now, we are defending really well. We needed to play defense and offense in this championship series,” ani Lastimosa. “I think the guys are going to be ready.”