BARANGAY Ginebra’s championship in the 2021-2022 PBA Governors’ Cup has striking similarities to one memorable title in Tim Cone’s legendary coaching career.
Cone said the recent Ginebra championship has something in common with Alaska’s title in the 1998 Commissioner’s Cup – the absence of a key player due to an injury first and foremost.
The now 24-time PBA champion said the Milkmen played without All-Star forward Bong Hawkins due to an ACL injury. Yet Alaska wound up winning the Commissioner’s Cup title in six games against a San Miguel side coached by Ron Jacobs and with the help of import Devin Davis, who won the Best Import award that conference.
The Milkmen, of course, had Johnny Abarrientos and Jojo Lastimosa in the team as well as Kenneth Duremdes, who won the Best Player of the Conference and the Finals MVP at the end of the campaign.
The 1998 season ended up as one of the best years of Alaska, and many felt the Milkmen could have won another grand slam if not for the call-up of Abarrientos, Lastimosa, and Duremdes as well as Cone to the Philippine Centennial Team for the Bangkok Asian Games.
As for this conference’s team, Cone and the Gins had to deal with the absence of Stanley Pringle, who suffered a knee injury that kept him out for the Governors’ Cup, and an injury that also kept Japeth Aguilar out for long stretches.
Undermanned
“I told Scottie and the rest of the guys that at one point when I was with Alaska, we lost Bong Hawkins to an ACL injury. And I mentioned it to them that was the same thing with Stanley. And we had to find a way to make up for Stanley as we did without Bong Hawkins.”
"We were able to win that championship without Bong Hawkins. That was probably one of the most spectacular championships although nobody remembers it because we were shorthanded and found a way to win,” said Cone.
Despite missing Pringle, the Gins won the title against Meralco in six games with Scottie Thompson leading from the front, winning the Finals MVP awad after taking home the Best Player of the Conference trophy.
“That’s just so similar to what happened here, being shorthanded and finding a way to win,” said Cone.
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