ANTIPOLO - Tim Cone still reserved some good words for Barangay Ginebra despite going down to its first loss in the PBA Commissioner's Cup courtesy of guest team Eastern Sunday night.
The champion coach, who turned 67 last Saturday, lamented the poor shooting of the Kings at the Ynares Center where they went 1-of-19 from three point range (5 percent) and 31-of-72 from the field overall (43 percent) that served as the backbone of their 93-90 loss.
Yet, the Kings grinded out the entire game and had Eastern (5-1) on the ropes in the homestretch until Scottie Thompson missed on a potential game-tying three pointer at the buzzer.
That was enough for Cone to regard it a moral victory for his team.
"We didn't play well. We didn't shoot the ball well. And yet we almost had a chance to win. So that was character," said the Ginebra coach.
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The loss snapped the Kings' two game winning run to start the conference as they played their third game in a span of five days.
Cone is not making excuses, but obviously fatigue has caught up with the Kings.
"We just couldn't get our legs underneath us after playing two games in the last couple of days. We basically did everything we could to lose the game," he added.
Nonetheless, Cone sees a positive side to the loss.
"We kept battling and fighting. We willed ourselves to stay in the game even though we weren't playing well. So that bodes well for us down the line," stressed the Ginebra coach.
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Ginebra's hectic schedule resumes on Wednesday when it takes on Terrafirma at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, followed by Converge in the league's first road game for the conference on Dec. 21 in Batangas City, before capping it off with a Christmas Day showdown with long-time rival Magnolia at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. (RG)
