NBA writer calls Cone ‘cage guru’

MANILA, Philippines - The PBA’s winningest coach Tim Cone has been spotted by one of the NBA’s most prolific writers Roland Lazenby and is prominently cited as a “hoops guru” in the 2014-15 edition of Lindy’s Sports Pro Basketball magazine which went on sale in the US a few days ago. The recognition could open the doors for Cone to someday coach in the NBA.

Lazenby, who lives in Virginia, is the author of a slew of basketball books including “Michael Jordan: My Life,” “Jerry West: The Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon,” “Mind Games: Phil Jackson’s Long Strange Journey,” “Blood on the Horns: The Long, Strange Ride of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls,” “The Show: The Inside Story of the Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers In the Words of Those Who Lived It” and “Mad Game: The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant.” He has taught journalism at Virginia Tech and Radford University for two decades.

Cone arrives from a brief trip to San Francisco today. He accompanied his son Kevin in enrolling at Santa Clara University. Cone said he recently met with Lazenby over lunch that extended to over four hours in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

“We met through twitter and found we had a common link through (triangle offense creator) Tex Winter so when I went to Washington, D. C. (to visit daughter Nikki who is a law student at American University), I asked if he wanted to meet for lunch,” said Cone. “So I drove down to the halfway point, Harrisonburg, and he drove up from southern Virginia for lunch and we really hit it off. We sat and talked for over four hours. Awesome guy, incredibly nice and knowledgeable. I love his writing.”

Cone and Lazenby hooked up after the San Mig Coffee coach watched games at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas last July. “I knew Roland was going to quote me in Lindy’s but not to that extent,” he said. “We’ve been speaking frequently ever since on the phone and through twitter.”

Lazenby paid Cone a huge compliment by describing him as “one of the most sophisticated coaches in the world (and) an astute student of the game and coaching styles around the globe.” He mentioned that Cone has won 18 championships in the “highly competitive” PBA “while running the triangle offense for better than 20 seasons.”

In Lazenby’s article about LeBron James published in Lindy’s, he quoted Cone analyzing how King James could fit in new Cleveland coach David Blatt’s European-style system. “There is a lot of player movement in European basketball,” said Cone, quoted by Lazenby. “It’ll be interesting to see if LeBron will spend that much energy and time moving without the ball. It can be really tiring. Will LeBron move without the ball the way Manu Ginobili does in San Antonio? The reason they (the Spurs) run it so well (multiple action, European-style offense) is that they have Euro-styled players. LeBron is used to playing 40 to 42 minutes a game. Can he run that style of system?”

Lazenby also mentioned Cone as being Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s friend. He said, “as his friend, Philippine basketball guru Tim Cone pointed out, Spoelstra has long been an intense student of the game…for years, he’s studied system concepts. Now, he’ll get to put one into play (without LeBron). Don’t look for Spoelstra to adopt the triangle offense. But he’ll probably use one of Tex Winter’s drills aimed at increasing ball and player movement, nothing radical, just progress towards team growth.”

Lazenby quoted Cone once more in his analysis of new Golden State coach Steve Kerr’s system. At the Summer League, Lazenby said Kerr experimented with a system that combined facets of Winter’s triangle offense and San Antonio’s Euro-style.

“Triangle guru Tim Cone watched Kerr with interest,” said Lazenby. “’Kerr was doing run-outs after misses,’ Tim noted. And the Warriors would get into some triangle when things slowed down. Kerr chose to run a one-guard front as opposed to the triangle’s two-guard front. Cone, who’s won 18 championships running the triangle in the Philippines’ pro league, doesn’t favor the one-guard front because it lures teams into the typical 1-4 pro offense with an over reliance on screen and roll. That makes it hard for teams to get into the triangle, Cone pointed out.

“Cone, who is one of the most sophisticated triangle coaches in the world, is dubious of anyone trying to run a hybrid. The triangle is such a challenge to install, it becomes difficult to build the discipline if players don’t become immersed in it, he explained.”

Lazenby quoted Cone extensively regarding New York coach Derek Fisher who was handpicked by Phil Jackson to call the shots for the Knicks this season. “Coaching guru Tim Cone, who has won umpteen championships with the triangle offense in the hoops-crazy Philippines, came to the NBA’s summer league just to watch Fisher work,” said Lazenby. “A purist, Cone came away pleased. ‘I thought the Knicks would struggle trying to do too much using the triangle in the summer league,’ Cone offered. ‘But they kept their discipline.’ As a result, Cone came away thinking it would take Fisher a lot less time this coming season to get his veteran team up and running the offense.

“Cone described Fisher as the perfect protégé of Phil Jackson and triangle innovator Tex Winter. ‘Fisher did a good job of keeping calm,’ Cone said. ‘When he coached, Phil didn’t coach the games. He coached the practices. Fisher is showing those same tendencies. Their players in summer league were trying really hard to emulate his discipline.’”

Lazenby’s constant reference to Cone in five separate sections in Lindy’s was a clear indication of respect for the coach’s competence and basketball knowledge.