BARANGAY Ginebra starts an interesting journey under assistant coach Richard del Rosario as the Gin Kings tangle with the Converge FiberXers in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings will be without their multi-titled head coach for over two weeks as Tim Cone sits on the Miami Heat bench in the NBA Summer League set July 2 to 17 in San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.
Cone's ride with the Heat lasts longer should they make the knockout playoffs starting July 16.
In this stretch, the Kings play five games, hoping to do well to contend for a Top Two finish in the elims and a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.
Cone left them at 4-1, just half-game behind the pacesetting San Miguel Beermen (5-1).
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Coach Jeffrey Cariaso and his troops, on the other hand, tote a 2-4 slate as they set out for their 6 p.m. tussle with the Kings.
"I think it's a great opportunity for coach Richard. Nothing's gonna change. He's not gonna put in a whole new system when I leave," said Cone on One Sports Wednesday.
"He's the No. 1 adjustment coach on our team, anyway. He's basically the guy that does the adjustments. So he's actually more valuable than me during games," Cone added.
Del Rosario will be tested in their games versus the FiberXers, the Terrafirma Dyip, the TNT Tropang Giga, the Meralco Bolts and the NorthPort Batang Pier.
Meanwhile, Cone will try to soak up NBA experience and any other opportunities that may arise from this special journey made possible by the invitation of Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra.
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"The bottom line is I'll be an assistant coach to their head coach, who's going to be Malik Allen. He will coach the Summer League team. This is very humbling for me and I'm willing to go in there and do whatever it takes," said Cone.
"I've been in some conversations. I know I'm going to be treated as one of the staff, which is really amazing. And I'm going to stay with the staff and I don't know exactly what my duties are," he added. (SB)
