BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone feels fortunate to have a ‘tough guy’ in Aljon Mariano at this point of their PBA Philippine Cup bubble campaign.
Mariano was crucial in a 92-90 win over TNT that gave Ginebra a 2-0 lead in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, scoring 20 points and more importantly providing the toughness inside as the Kings battled back from 15-points down.
“I thought that, as much as LA (Tenorio) and Scottie (Thompson) did their thing down the stretch, AJ’s (Aljon) contributions were just exceptional,” said Cone.
“He played with a toughness that we needed tonight. We really needed someone to step up and make the tough plays to be a physical presence out there. He doesn’t back down to anybody, that’s why we love him so much.”
Mariano is having an exceptional bubble campaign, so much so that Ginebra associate coach Richard Del Rosario said in a television interview that the team won't be where it is now in the bubble if not for the underrated forward.
Cone admitted Mariano’s toughness is something that the team was missing in some of its games. He also admires him for being the kind of guy who comes in to play his best all the time, regardless of the minutes he is given.
“We weren’t playing with a lot of toughness tonight. We were lacking in toughness. Aljon just took over for us and made a couple of big moves on his own – real, strong moves that kinda lifted the whole team. That’s what Aljon does for us.”
“He’s that tough guy that comes out on the floor, plays through everything, he plays through my yelling at him, he just really comes out to play all the time. That’s a guy that oftentimes we lack on the team.
"He is super valuable and he’s been growing his game over the last two, three years, and there’s been times that he’s been brilliant. Other times, he got buried on the bench. He always comes back from that and we always end up, ‘Oh gee, where’s Aljon? We got to get Aljon out there.’”
Cone said he also likes the combination of Mariano and rookie Arvin Tolentino and what they bring to the team during the late stage of the bubble.
“Those guys rotate for each other at that position. Again, Aljon took over the game for us because we needed toughness and he is a tough guy. I love that term,” said Cone.
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