FOR Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone, the two times he coached the national team during his coaching career were of equal footing as the other.
In his first stint as national team mentor, Cone coached the Philippine Centennial Team that went home with a bronze medal in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. The two-time PBA grand slam coach would return to the same role 21 years later when he spearheaded Gilas Pilipinas to the gold in the Southeast Asian Games in Manila.
“I really enjoyed both of them,” said Cone when posed by SPIN.ph during the Zoom In episode of an open-ended question on whether he will choose either the Centennial Team in 1998 or Gilas Pilipinas in 2019.
“Both were great because I got to coach players that I would never, ever coach otherwise,” said Cone.
But while both were an enjoyable experience for him, Cone admitted one was “a lot nicer” than the other.
“It’s a lot nicer winning the Southeast Asian Games than it was losing the Asian Games,” he added.
In front of its home fans, Gilas Pilipinas swept its way to the SEA Games gold at the Mall of Asia Arena. An all-pro team defeated Singapore, Vietnam, and Myanmar in the preliminaries before beating Indonesia and Thailand on its way to the gold medal.
For the Centennial Team, the national squad finished with a bronze medal after defeating Kazakhstan. Still, it was a result not everyone was hoping for as the team was relegated to play for third after suffering a semifinal defeat against China that ended their gold medal hopes in the Asiad.
Still, Cone considers both stints as a memorable experience since he was able to coach top players from other squads even for a brief period of time.
“For a short time, I coached Alvin Patrimonio, Vergel Meneses, Jun Limpot, Dennis Espino, Marlou Aquino. Guys I never got to coach,” Cone said.
“Same thing. I got to coach June Mar. I’m going to say Christian (Standhardinger) but I’ll get to coach Christian now. Matthew Wright, Marcio Lassiter, Kiefer Ravena, all those guys. That’s the thrill. It’s coaching guys that I never got a chance to coach. Both were equal,” said Cone.
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