Cone’s wish is to honor Baby

MANILA, Philippines - San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone yesterday paid tribute to Baby Dalupan as the greatest PBA tactician ever and dismissed the notion that he has dislodged the Maestro from the pedestal even as the 56-year-old, long-time local resident became the winningest mentor in league history after leading the Mixers to the Philippine Cup championship at the Smart Araneta Coliseum the other night.

The Mixers’ latest title was Cone’s 16th overall, breaking his tie with Dalupan who ended his career with 15 crowns. Talk ‘N’ Text coach Norman Black is third in the ladder with 11 pennants.

“I understand coach Baby doesn’t receive too many visitors and has limited vision,” said Cone. “I don’t know if he watched or listened to the coverage of the game (the other night) but I’m hoping to get in touch with him, visit him and honor him. When we were tied with 15 championships, I remember saying no one would ever surpass coach Baby’s greatness. No doubt, he’s the greatest coach in PBA history. He was the pioneer, the leader and the father to all of us who followed him. I think it’s important for the young generation of PBA fans to recognize what coach Baby has done for the league.”

Cone said while he’s proud of what San Mig Coffee’s latest victory means to the organization, it’s no more special than his other trophies. “Every championship is special and you can’t point to one being more special the other,” he said. “It’s like a father who won’t love a child more or less than another. But in my career, probably my most memorable finals was when I lost to coach Baby. It was my first-ever finals in 1990 and coach Baby won his 15th title. Coach Baby’s team Purefoods beat Alaska, 3-2, in the best-of-five finals. Of course, our latest championship is special, too, not just because it was my 16th but because it’s the first back-to-back titles for our organization and it’s a testament to the greatness of our franchise.”

Cone said throughout the finals against Rain Or Shine, he was concerned about the Elasto Painters’ physicality. “They wanted to outphysical us,” he said. “If we try to reciprocate their physicality, it’ll be a victory in their corner. So we had to play our style, our game. We didn’t need to go out there to prove we’re macho. We have nothing to prove. We’re confident in what we do. We’ve become a mature team. Maybe, a year ago, we wouldn’t have been able to do this.”

After losing Game 1, Cone said he was confident the Mixers would bounce back. “I took the blame for the loss in Game 1,” he said. “Players know when coaches screw up and I made decisions that didn’t work out down the stretch. Games 3 and 4 could’ve gone either way and I told our guys entering Game 5, we could’ve easily been down 1-3 instead of up, 3-1. In Game 5, I thought we lost our focus and concentration. We just weren’t up to our level of concentration. Players were tight, we got into early foul trouble. Rain Or Shine hit some tough shots and when they got going in the fourth period, we couldn’t get back our focus. In Game 6, we settled down and stepped up. We showed good balance and got big contributions from Mark (Barroca) and Ian (Sangalang).”

Cone singled out Barroca and Marc Pingris as players who can dominate on both ends. “Ping’s a dynamic offensive player,” he said. “He’s also our best defender. He’s learned to control his emotions and not let calls or no-calls affect him. Mark plays so hard that sometimes, we need to slow him down. That’s his bugaboo. But now that he’s found his balance, he’s much more effective. Coach Yeng (Guiao) had a great matchup adjustment with Gabe (Norwood) on Mark. (Assistant coaches) Johnny (Abarrientos) and Olsen (Racela) kept reminding Mark that he doesn’t need to score to contribute, he can be our decoy guy, he can sacrifice his offense to create for others.”

Despite Norwood’s presence, Barroca went berserk in the fourth period of Game 6, delivering 14 of his 24 points, including a dagger three in Mr. President’s face. “It’s rare that you find players who can dominate on offense and defense,” said Cone. “We’re lucky Mark and Ping are on our team.”

Cone said with Norwood on Barroca, Rain Or Shine fell a big man short of defending Ian Sangalang or Joe De Vance at the post. The mismatch was evident as in Game 6, De Vance and Sangalang took turns posting up Paul Lee or Jeff Chan with Norwood on Barroca.

Cone pointed to De Vance as the PBA’s most underrated player. “Joe allows us to play unconventional,” he said. “In our starting lineup, we have no point guard. And in our second unit, we have three. Joe’s versatility gives us the flexibility to use unconventional combinations that create mismatch advantages. I don’t think we’d be able to do what we do without Joe on our side. With Ian, I think Rain Or Shine gambled on testing the rookie. It’s amazing how a rookie can play with so much poise and calm. He’s a tough guy to stop in a mismatch. Ian and Joe gave us a big edge in the post-up.”

Cone said the Painter who gave the Mixers the biggest headache was Lee. “We did everything we could to stop him, different schemes and even Ping was on him but he was still able to go out there and do his thing,” he said. “Jeff Chan had a great series, too, but the MVP on Rain Or Shine’s team could only be Paul.”