Cone naisahan si Cariaso

PINATUNAYAN noong Linggo ni Tim Cone na marami pang dapat kaining bigas si Jeffrey Cariaso upang maging magaling na head coach sa PBA.

Naging mahigpitan ang laro ng San Mig Super Coffee at Barangay Ginebra San Miguel sa PBA Governors Cup sa harap ng 17,118 na katao sa Smart Araneta Coliseum nang biglang nakalayo ang tropa ni Cone kontra sa mga bata ni Cariaso sa pamamagitan ng 16 sunod na puntos sa huling yugto upang maitala ang 102-90 na panalo at makuha ang solong liderato sa torneo.

Bukod dito ay pinutol ng Coffee Mixers ang tatlong sunod na panalo ng Kings.

“Our experience took over and they (Kings) got rattled. We were able to set up our pressure defense and we kinda let the dogs out,” wika ni Cone. “This game was about moving up and staying among the leaders.”

Naniniwala si Cone na mas lalong lalakas ang Kings kapag nasanay na sila sa paggamit ni Cariaso ng triangle offense na ginagamit din ni Cone sa San Mig at sa Alaska noon.

“They (Kings) have to respond to adversity for them to grow,” ani Cone. “To be a real good team, you need to go through adversity.”

Saludo naman si Cariaso sa ginawang leksyon ni Cone sa kanya bilang coach.

“We weren’t mentally tough and they (Mixers) put a lot of pressure that caused a lot of turnovers,” sambit ni Cariaso. “We didn’t seem to know what to do when they started pressing. We were tentative in dribbling and our triangle offense is still not fluid.”           (James Ty III)