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    Cone weighs in on '1 import vs 2 imports' debate amid B.League rise

    Cone: 'What happens to the development of your local players?'
    Mar 9, 2023
    Tim Cone on imports debate
    Tim Cone is cold on the idea of having more than one import on a PBA team.
    PHOTO: Jerome AscaƱo | @manilacone, @kilikilishot on Twitter

    ADD Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone to the defenders of keeping PBA imports on one team to just one.

    Tim Cone on PBA imports setup debate

    The two-time grand slam coach on Thursday replied to a Twitter post by blogger @kilikilishot, who commended the Japan B.League for the growth of its pro basketball league the past three years, citing its setup of having two imports, apart from an Asian reinforcement on each team that has raised the quality of competition.

    Cone, though, came to the defense of local players, whose spots can be reduced with the addition of imports. The PBA allows only one import for each team in the Commissioner’s Cup and the Governors’ Cup.

    Even having the all-local Philippine Cup doesn’t hurt as it is widely considered as the PBA’s most prestigious conference, keeping Filipinos basically better than Japanese basketball players, Cone implied.

    “That leaves only two local players regularly. What happens to the development of your local players?” I think if we play a pro all-Filipino team vs a pro all-Japanese team, we would win most. There’s a reason the All-Filipino Conference is the most popular. JMO,” Cone tweeted.

    The blogger stood firm in his stance, but is understanding where Cone and the PBA are coming from.

    “That’s probably the biggest trade off Coach, but wouldn’t the local players’ development enjoy a speed bump by having to compete against more imports in practice? But I really didn’t think of it this way though, from the PBA’s standpoint. Thank you for sharing this!” @kilikilishot replied.

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      The debate has been brewing for years, with former Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin saying in 2020 the PBA’s single-import conferences are a “big mistake,” to which Ginebra governor and San Miguel Corp. sports director Alfrancis Chua replying along the lines of what Cone said about depriving spots from local players.

      If you had a choice, how many imports should play for each PBA team?

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      Tim Cone is cold on the idea of having more than one import on a PBA team.
      PHOTO: Jerome AscaƱo | @manilacone, @kilikilishot on Twitter
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