By JONAS TERRADO
Tim Cone could only wish he can still be as young as a morning Sun as the 2010s come to an end.
“I just hate being 62-years-old,” Cone said in jest. “I wish I was 52. Actually, 32.”
Other than complaining of his battle with Father Time, Cone is relishing on a decade of resurgence that saw him become the winningest coach in PBA history.
His transfer to the San Miguel Corp. in 2011 brought the American mentor back to his winning ways he enjoyed with Alaska in the 90s, completing a second Grand Slam with the Purefoods franchise before bringing crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to an era of consistency following a long title drought.
“It’s really been my decade with the San Miguel group,” he said. “It’s been exciting (and) it’s been enlightening.”
Cone had actually started the decade by steering Alaska to the 2010 Fiesta Conference. But the titles were becoming rare for him after winning just three in the previous 10-year stretch.
A stunning move to Purefoods, which was then carrying the name B-Meg, led to the start of an era of resurgence for Cone.
He had to recover from seeing B-Meg suffer a stunning upset to underdog Powerade in the 2011-12 Philippine Cup quarterfinals to win his first title the following conference, beating Talk ‘N Text for the Commissioner’s Cup crown.
His second came in the 2013 Governors’ Cup, a feat that launched the journey of the now San Mig Super Coffee Mixers to immortality.
San Mig claimed the Philippine Cup with a six-game win over Rain or Shine, beat a previously unbeaten Talk ‘N Text in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals, before repeating over ROS in the Governors’ Cup to give Cone his first Triple Crown since steering Alaska to the 1996 ‘Slam.’
The Grand Slam also allowed Cone to overtake his coaching idol Baby Dalupan as the winningest ever. Dalupan had 15 titles for Crispa, Great Taste and Purefoods.
“I love the Purefoods players and I love winning the Grand Slam with that group,” said Cone, who was blessed to have a talented core led by James Yap, Marc Pingris, Mark Barroca, PJ Simon, Allein Maliksi, Rafi Reavis, and imports Marqus Blakely, Denzel Bowles, and James Mays.
But Cone wasn’t done shocking basketball followers when SMC management decided to transfer him to Ginebra, which entered the 2015-16 season still searching for a first PBA title since 2008.
And like his time with the Purefoods franchise, Cone had to deal with struggles as Ginebra suffered quarterfinal exits in the first two conferences. But Cone and Ginebra’s fortunes took a major turn when it was able to tap Justin Brownlee as a replacement to the injured Paul Harris in the 2016 Governors’ Cup.
The Kings rode on Cone’s acumen and their new import’s play to beat the Meralco Bolts in the Finals, winning the title on a dramatic buzzer-beating three by Brownlee in Game 6.
That set the stage for more championships at Ginebra, taking home the 2017 Governors’ Cup and 2018 Commissioner’s Cup with Brownlee leading the charge.
The Kings are in a strong position to add another as they face the Bolts in this season’s Governors’ Cup Finals which starts after the New Year’s Day revelry.
In-between, Cone was able to steer Gilas Pilipinas to the gold in the recent Southeast Asian Games, winning all five games on home soil.
