TIM Cone is high on first-round pick Ken Holmqvist, who he said can thrive at Barangay Ginebra with a European-style game that is a cross between Gin Kings veteran Joe Devance's and NBA star Nikola Jokic's.
The 6-foot-8 rookie, who spent time in Norway after his stint with Far Eastern University in the UAAP where he captured an MVP in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League in 2015, was exactly the guy Ginebra wanted in the draft, Cone said.
“I think Ken is a lot better than people give him credit for,” Cone, appearing in Thursday's SPIN Zoom In episode on Facebook and YouTube, said of the 26-year old big man picked 12th overall by the Ginebra in the last PBA rookie draft.
“From what we can see from him, he is the quintessential European big man: he can handle the ball, he can shoot from three, he can post up. He is not a big-time physical-type player as a lot of European bigs are. They aren’t that physical.
“We haven’t really seen him in terms of how strong a rebounder he is going to be. But in terms of offensive skills, ball handling, he reminds me a little bit of a right-handed Joe Devance. That’s the way we plan to use him.
"But the name I’m going to throw out to you, (he) reminds me of a little Jokic. A small version of a Jokic at 6-8. And Jokic took about two, three years before he really started developing into who he was. I think Ken has the opportunity to do that,” said Cone.
Cone admitted Ginebra was so determined to draft Holmqvist that it attempted to move up in the draft order by acquiring the No. 7 pick of Phoenix in a trade.
The two-time grand slam winner admitted they rated Holmqvist second behind only Larry Muyang in terms of the big men that they believe would still be available at No. 7 based on their own draft assessment.
“We tried to trade up to No. 7. We tried to trade with Phoenix. Didn’t work out. But we tried to make a trade with Phoenix to get their No. 7 pick. And they turned us down the day before the draft," he said.
“But we were planning on picking Holmqvist at No. 7. If Muyang would have been available, we would take him at No. 7. But if not, we would have taken Ken. Muyang was the one big guy rated higher than Ken.”
Cone, however, made it clear that the jury is still out on Holmqvist as he still needs to prove his worth during the actual practices and games as he competes for minutes in a deep Ginebra frontline that includes Japeth Aguilar, Christian Standhardinger, Devance, and the vastly improved Prince Caperal.
“Who’s to know. We don’t know until we get him out there on the court and play him… But I think Ken has a future with us. We will see how long it takes him to realize his potential," said the multi-titled coach.
"He got a lot of really good players in front of him. He’s got Christian in front of him. He’s got Japeth in front of him. Prince is playing really good. Joe is still around. He’s got some good guys in front of him. He has to battle for minutes. But if he gets an opportunity, he might be a surprise."
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