NENAD Vucinic has great respect to Tim Cone for his work not just with Barangay Ginebra but more so for Gilas Pilipinas.
Speaking at the PBA Press Corps awards night on Tuesday night, Vucinic hailed Cone for his accomplishment with the national team especially during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament where Gilas Pilipinas defeated then-No. 5 Latvia, 89-80, to eventually reach the semifinals and coming two wins shy of making it to Paris 2024.
Incidentally, Cone was also in attendance during the PBAPC event to receive President’s Award plum exactly for his accomplishment in the FIBA OQT.
“Huge respect for coach Tim,” said the Meralco active consultant who once held the position as Gilas interim coach in 2022.
“When I watched Gilas play in Riga against Latvia, I was just shocked to be honest because not many teams can actually do that in the middle of Riga to take such a good team as Latvia.”
Incidentally, Vucinic will be up against Cone in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals as Meralco battles Barangay Ginebra beginning the best-of-five series on Thursday.
READ: Brownlee-Durham IV now official as Ginebra faces Meralco in QFs
“I have the full respect,” said the soft-spoken Vucinic, referring to Cone.
The Serbian-New Zealander coach was part of the Meralco coaching staff that captured the PBA Press Corps Coach of the Year for Season 48 for leading the Bolts to the Philippine Cup title.
Vucinic said the Bolts would also not have won the title and the Coach of the Year plum without their counterparts including Cone, who made them earn every win.
“I’d like to thank all the coaches for making our job very difficult,” said Vucinic.
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