Push Admin

PBA: Cone 'real proud' as ex-player Lastimosa experiences coaching success in TNT

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone and TNT interim coach Jojo Lastimosa. PBA Images." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/04/03/20230403-cone.jpg"/><figcaption>Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone and TNT interim coach Jojo Lastimosa. <em>PBA Images.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- They may be gearing up for a finals showdown but there is nothing but respect between Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone and TNT interim coach Jojo Lastimosa.</p><p>The two men share a long history, with Lastimosa having played for Cone in the 1990s for Alaska. He was part of the historic Alaska squad that won a Grand Slam in 1996, and finished his PBA career as a 10-time champion.</p><p>Now, Lastimosa will match wits with his former coach and mentor as TNT challenges Ginebra in the finals of the 2023 PBA Governors&#x27; Cup. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/29/23/pba-ginebra-closes-out-san-miguel-in-thriller-marches-to-finals">PBA: Ginebra closes out San Miguel in thriller, marches to finals</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/31/23/pba-tnt-closes-out-meralco-to-arrange-title-clash-with-ginebra">PBA: TNT closes out Meralco to arrange title clash with Ginebra</a></li></ul><p>&quot;I never thought that I would be in this position, because I was hired to be the team manager,&quot; said Lastimosa, who is coaching the Tropang GIGA on the interim while Chot Reyes is focused on Gilas Pilipinas and their campaign in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. </p><p>&quot;And now I&#x27;m already here. I am the first guy who actually [is] surprised to be in this position, and being with Tim here in the finals,&quot; he added. &quot;I&#x27;m just glad to be here, and extremely proud of the guys.&quot;</p><p>Lastimosa steered TNT to the No. 1 seed at the end of the elimination round, where they compiled a 10-1 win-loss record. They went on to oust Phoenix Super LPG in the quarterfinals before dismissing Meralco in four games in the semis.</p><p>Cone, whose Ginebra squad lost to TNT in the elimination round, said that he was &quot;real proud&quot; to see Lastimosa experience success as a coach.</p><p>&quot;[I&#x27;m] real proud of how successful he has been,&quot; said Cone during Monday&#x27;s press conference at Novotel. &quot;He&#x27;s lost two games in his career so far, and both of them were games he probably should&#x27;ve won. So he could very well be easily undefeated at this point, going into the finals.&quot;</p><p>&quot;He&#x27;s doing a wonderful job and I&#x27;m real proud of that, and I&#x27;m real proud that I was part, or a piece of his history,&quot; he added.</p><p>While he has an undeniable advantage in terms of experience, Cone believes that his coaching battle against Lastimosa &quot;is gonna be difficult.&quot; He pointed out that &quot;Jolas&quot; has learned not just from him, but also from other champion coaches like Yeng Guiao and Chot Reyes. </p><p>Moreover, Lastimosa is still familiar with Cone&#x27;s approach to the game and his style. </p><p>&quot;He knows me like the back of his hand,&quot; Cone said of his former star player. &quot;He knows my approach, he knows the way I like to adjust, he&#x27;s seen that all through the years. It&#x27;s gonna be very hard for me to keep him unbalanced, and that&#x27;s usually the key to playing in a series -- trying to keep the other team unbalanced.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m not sure we&#x27;re gonna be able to do that, but we&#x27;re gonna certainly try,&quot; he added.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/01/23/pba-coach-jolas-relishes-tnts-underdog-status-vs-ginebra">PBA: Coach Jolas relishes TNT&#x27;s underdog status vs Ginebra</a></li></ul><p>Lastimosa, for his part, is eager to show what he has learned from Cone over the years -- not just in terms of x&#x27;s and o&#x27;s but even in how he has built his teams, and how he has gotten the best out of his players. </p><p>&quot;If there&#x27;s something that I picked from Tim … Definitely, the way Tim handled his players before, there&#x27;s always that connection with the players,&quot; said Lastimosa. &quot;That&#x27;s what I wanna bring to TNT, about that connection with the players. It&#x27;s a huge help, in terms of communication lines, and the relationship.&quot;</p><p>&quot;For him, that relationship is really important. More than the system, more than the defense, more than the offense, I think the character part of running a team is huge for Tim,&quot; he added. </p><p>Game 1 of the best-of-7 series is on Easter Sunday, April 9, at the Araneta Coliseum. </p><div><strong>PBA Season 47 games can be streamed live and on-demand on iWantTFC with a Premium subscription, available worldwide except PH and US. </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2570256" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

They may be gearing up for a Finals showdown but there is nothing but respect between Ginebra coach Tim Cone and TNT interim coach Jojo Lastimosa.