JORDAN Heading has no personal thing going against Tim Cone as the Converge shooting guard plays Barangay Ginebra for the first time in his PBA career.
The rookie Fil-Australian said he’s not looking beyond what is on the table on Saturday when the Commissioner’s Cup holds its first ever out-of-town game in the conference in Batangas City.
READ: Converge makes it back-to-back wins at the expense of Phoenix
“My mind set right now is Converge against Ginebra, whoever is coaching,” said Heading after the FiberXers scored their second straight win in the tournament, 116-105, at the expense of Phoenix Fuel Masters at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday night.
“We’re locked in on what we need to do to beat them.”
Of course, Heading and Cone had the chance to work together in the past with Gilas Pilipinas during the final leg of the qualifiers for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
But the 28-year-old Heading later turned down a call by Cone to come in to the national team as replacement for the injured Scottie Thompson just before the final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.
Personal matter regarding his wife’s supposed pregnancy got in the way, and Heading, unfortunately, had to skip the opportunity of playing for Cone again under Gilas.
But he did express his intention to become part of the Gilas pool under Cone in the future.
Now that he’s in the PBA, and facing Cone and the Kings over the weekend, Heading said meeting is not going to be his way of proving himself before the eyes of Cone.
“The whole deal is not really on my mind, to be honest,” said Heading, who finished with a team-high 21 points including a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line in the win over the Fuel Masters.
“There’s no needed motivation, there’s nothing extra needed. We just want to beat them, Gilas aside.”
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