TIM Cone believes San Miguel remains the golden standard in any Philippine Cup. And even with two runner-up finishes this PBA season, the Barangay Ginebra coach said any contender for the all-Filipino title must go through the Beermen.
The Gin Kings go up against the Beermen again in a best-of-seven semifinal. The two teams also faced off in the Final Four of the season-opening Governors’ Cup, where the Gin Kings overcame the Beermen in six games.
But Cone knows this is the Philippine Cup, where San Miguel owns the most number of titles with 10 - half of those won consecutively from 2014 to 2019.
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“When they go all-Filipino, they are motivated and they are confident and they play really tight together,” Cone said on the eve of Game One to be played on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Beermen haven’t won a Philippine Cup title since 2022, but their reputation as a title contender in the all-local tournament hasn’t changed at all, Cone said.
“We always say if you’re going to win the all-Filipino, you have to go through San Miguel at some point,” Cone said. “Whether it be in the quarters or the semis or the finals, you have to go through them to have a chance to win a championship. So that's the runway we’ve been given. So that's the runway we've got to go through,” said Cone.
June Mar Fajardo and Cjay Perez remain a force for the Beermen, occupying the top positions in the Best Player of the Conference statistical race at the end of the eliminations.
And as if the veteran support wasn’t enough, the Beermen have even beefed up their roster with the entry of Juami Tiongson, who was still with Terrafirma when it went up against the Beermen in the semifinals of the Governors’ Cup.
But in general, Cone said SMB hasn’t really changed at all even with the new players that arrived over the last few years.
“I don’t think they’ve changed all that much,” said Cone. “Leo (Austria) has so much success in the way he’s done things. If it ain’t broke, why change it. And until someone can consistently prove that they can beat San Miguel, why would they change? And no one’s been able to prove that in the all-Filipino.
“Marcio [Lassiter] is still there. [Chris] Ross is still there. And those guys are such huge veterans. They know the game so well. They know each other and they know the team so well. They’re terrific leaders. I had the experience of having them at the Asian Games. And I know what kind of leaders those guys are. So we can’t say enough good things about them,” said Cone.
“And now, they have added a veteran in Juami, who is a good fit for what June Mar [Fajardo] likes to do. Kind of the Alex Cabagnot-type. He can sit outside and really space the floor for him,” said Cone.
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