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PBA: Cone proud as Gin Kings overcome distractions in Christmas Day triumph

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone in Game 1 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner" s="" Cup="" Finals.="" PBA="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/12/26/pba-images10.jpg"/><figcaption>Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone in Game 1 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner&#x27;s Cup Finals. PBA Images</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines -- Playing a Finals day on Christmas Day came with a special kind of anxiety even for Tim Cone, who has experienced virtually everything the PBA has to offer through his decorated coaching career.Game 1 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner&#x27;s Cup Finals -- where he steered Barangay Ginebra to a 96-81 triumph over the Bay Area Dragons -- marked only the second time in Cone&#x27;s career that his team played a Finals game on Christmas Day.This result was more favorable than his first one: Cone had lost on December 25, 2002, when his Alaska Aces fell to the Coca-Cola Tigers in Game 4 of the All-Filipino Finals. Twenty years later, he got to exorcise some old demons as the Gin Kings fended off the guest team to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.&quot;I mean, playing on Christmas Day is a little overwhelming, honestly, and playing in the Finals is always a little overwhelming. So you add the two together, it makes for a lot of anxiety coming into a game like this and playing it,&quot; Cone said after the game.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/25/22/pba-ginebra-stifles-bay-area-for-game-1-win">RECAP: Ginebra stifles Bay Area for Game 1 win</a></li></ul>For all the pressure it brings, a Christmas Day game is always special for Cone and he was thrilled that the Gin Kings were able to provide some joy to the crowd of 18,252 who watched live at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday night.He also took pride in his players&#x27; ability to compartmentalize and focus on the task at hand, despite the many distractions that could have swayed them. LA Tenorio, the Ginebra captain, was also instrumental in getting the Gin Kings mentally ready for the game.&quot;I made sure that I tell them na we have to have the proper mindset coming into this game, because we have a lot of distractions because of the Noche Buena, Christmas, &#x27;di ba,&quot; said Tenorio. &quot;Alam naman natin, ang Christmas dito sa atin sa Pilipinas is really about family and gathering.&quot;&quot;I&#x27;m real proud of our guys for getting over all the distractions, I thought we came out hard and fast and furious,&quot; said Cone, as Ginebra used a 23-15 second quarter to pull away from the Dragons and maintained their advantage through the second half.&quot;I thought, that can be very difficult in a Christmas Day game. So our focus was there. Obviously, we&#x27;re motivated to play, and [it] makes coaching a little easier when your guys are … pumped up and ready to play,&quot; he added. Both Cone and Tenorio point out that a 1-0 lead in a best-of-7 series does not guarantee anything, but they are glad to have at least taken a step forward in their goal of winning another championship.&quot;[I&#x27;ve had] a lot of Finals appearances… and Coach Tim always preaches that to us -- na &#x27;yun talaga ang pinaka-importante, to get Game 1, and to set the tone,&quot; Tenorio said.&quot;Obviously, today&#x27;s game, it doesn&#x27;t win us a championship. It doesn&#x27;t even ... it doesn&#x27;t lose a championship for Bay Area. But the bottom line is, we got the first step forward, so that&#x27;s the crucial part,&quot; Cone added.Game 2 is on Wednesday, December 28, at the Araneta Coliseum.RELATED VIDEO:<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iouw65I1qt8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></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>

Playing a Finals day on Christmas Day came with a special kind of anxiety even for Tim Cone, who has experienced virtually everything the PBA has to offer.

PBA: Cone proud as Gin Kings overcome distractions in Christmas Day triumph

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PBA: Cone proud as Gin Kings overcome distractions in Christmas Day triumph

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 26, 2022 01:19 PM PHT

Read More:

basketball

PBA

PBA Commissioner's Cup

Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings

Bay Area Dragons

Tim Cone

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