BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone plans to have only a few days off for his team in the lead-up to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
The Gin Kings reached the finals of the season-ending conference for the third time in four seasons after beating NorthPort, 120-107, in Game Four on Friday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
While the league takes a two-week break for the holidays, Cone said he only plans to give his team a break in practice on Christmas and New Year's Day.
“I don’t know what we are going to do. I haven’t thought about what we are going to do between now and January 8,” said Cone. “We will take a Christmas day off, that’s for sure. We will take New Year’s day off, that’s for sure. That’s about the only thing we know for sure that we will take a day off.”
Barangay Ginebra will now be awaiting the winner of the TNT-Meralco semifinal series, which will play Game Four on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Cone admitted it would have been an advantage for the Gin Kings had they gone straight to the finals since TNT and Meralco will still be playing on Saturday - or again on Monday if their semifinal series extends to a Game Five.
“Sayang. We finished early and we finished a day ahead of the other ones. That would have been a big advantage if tuluy-tuloy, right in the finals. But we have no advantage now. We will just wait and see what happens with Meralco and Talk ‘N Text and go from there,” said Cone.
Cone said the coaching staff will maximize the days in the lead-up to the finals in order not to lose momentum while still able to celebrate Christmas and New Year.
“We will try to find a couple of days off but again, you don’t want to mess with your momentum. You take too much time off, you lose the momentum that you have going forward," he said.
Cone believes the players will be up to the challenge of preparing for a finals series in the middle of the holiday break.
“I just have to explain to the guys that this is everybody else’s holidays but it’s not going to be ours. This is work for us. You make your reputations, you get your contracts, you do all these things when you win a championship. You get your contracts again. It’s the teams that don’t make the semis and stuff like that, they have to worry about it.
“But at this point, if you can get there and win a championship, that means you are going to be able to get your contacts and build your reputation as a player. The finals is absolutely crucial.
"I don’t think they are going to ask for much time off. Their families will be upset. Like my family is going to be upset but they are all basketball people, they understand the game, they understand what it takes so I think we will be okay. We will find some time but it won’t be three or four days off at a time,” Cone said.
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