Cone on lopsided Game 4 loss: I was outcoached

MANILA, Philippines — Ginebra head coach Tim Cone admitted that he was outcoached by San Miguel Beer’s Leo Austria in the Gin Kings’ embarrassing 102-81 loss on Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“I don’t really have that much to say,” Cone said while gathering himself. “They just took it to us.”

San Miguel actually did. From the opening tip, the reigning conference champions stayed true to form, making Cone’s wards look for stability to arrest their errors. The stats sheet indicate that the Beermen converted 20 points off the Gin Kings turnovers, a far cry by Ginebra’s eight.

“It was brilliant coaching by coach Leo. They played well but that comes from the bench. On the other hand, it was terrible coaching by me,” Cone admitted.

“They came out and we didn’t figure out their zone early. We gave that zone life and never got it going. Defensively, they attacked us really well and shot the ball well,” Cone, the league’s winningest mentor and winner of two Grand Slams, offered.

What makes the loss harder to bear is that they lost in front of the franchise’s most revered cager, Robert Jaworski Jr. The living legend’s magic, this time around, didn’t work. 

“He didn’t come in, maybe we were too far behind. I heard he was coming but I didn’t see him,” he said of the Ginebra icon.

“Everything just kind of mushroomed today,” Cone said with a sigh. “But it really comes down to brilliant adjustments by coach Leo that we weren’t just prepared for. We should’ve been but we weren’t. And that’s on me.”

But don’t take Cone’s words as a sign of surrender. After all, he has been in ruts like this and have taken many teams into greater, uncharted heights.

“I was just totally outcoached and outclassed today, but we move forward from it,” he added. “Tough one to swallow especially since we played so hard and so well last game.”

“That’s it. I don’t want to say anything more. I might say some stuff I’m not supposed to say. Thanks,” he said before leaving the venue.

Ginebra will try to stave off elimination when their best-of-seven with San Miguel resumes this Saturday at the Cuneta Astrodome.