BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone isn’t expecting a walk in the park when the Gin Kings begin their PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven semifinal series next Wednesday against Rain or Shine.
Cone and the Gin Kings dismantled the young Phoenix side under coach Charles Tiu, 112-81 to advance to the Final Four against ROS.
The American mentor, the PBA’s all-time winningest coach, knows very well that the series against Rain or Shine offers an altogether different competition.
“I just know how hard it is to go up against Yeng Guiao and his teams,” said Cone, shortly after Ginebra’s 31-point shellacking of Phoenix at the Ynares Center in Antipolo last Friday.
”They play the game extremely hard and play the game extremely fast. They compete all the time,” he added.
Rain or Shine’s fast-paced game was evident in Friday’s first game where the Elasto Painters’ 32 assists led to 19 three-point shots made as they blew past the San Miguel Beermen, 112-103 in their own quarter final duel.
The win pushed ROS into the semifinal round.
Cone knows that Guiao’s ability to maximize his players will make the series more challenging.
“We know they can wear you down in a seven-game series. So there’s a lot of concern going to a team like that,” stressed the 68-year-old Ginebra coach. “Coach Yeng is so experienced in these things.”
The concurrent Gilas Pilipinas coach added that Guiao is no pushover mentor, given his vast coaching experience.
“Sometimes, I’d think I have a little bit of edge on that (coaching) most of the time,
but with coach Yeng, we came in the league almost at the same time,” he said. “He’s been through it all so I expect it to be a really tough series.”
Ginebra hammered Rain or Shine, 114-90 in their only elimination round duel last May 3.
Cone however, refused to dwell on that.
“Instead of looking at that and deciding on just that, we know the kind of team they present. That’s what we got to be ready for, not the last game,” he said.
