MANILA, Philippines — Chot Reyes marveled at the fact that his acknowledged basketball mentor Tim Cone has reinvented himself over the years since they first worked together at Alaska in the early 1990s.
For someone who has adapted the triangle offense that NBA coaching great Phil Jackson utilized during his distinguished career with the Chicago Bulls and later, with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cone achieved massive coaching success after winning an all-time record 25 PBA championships.
All that is not lost for the 60-year-old Reyes, who noted that the Ginebra coaching “maestro” has since made major adjustments to how he handles the Gin Kings over the past few years.
“In (terms of) their style of play, Ginebra used to take the fewest three-point shots, (but) now they are no. 1 in three-points (made) and four-points,” Reyes said during Thursday’s Finals press conference held at the The Atrium, Enderun Colleges in McKinley Hill, Taguig City.
The outspoken TNT mentor , a nine-time PBA champion coach, said Ginebra’s ability to maximize the three-points and four-point arc each game day has a lot to do with resident import Justin Brownlee, Maverick Ahanmisi and even rookie guard RJ Abarrientos.
“That’s a big departure from the way they play, from taking fewer three-pointers as against today, that’s dictated by circumstances because he’s (Cone) got a very different team,” stressed Reyes, also a six-time PBA Coach of the Year.
“He’s making great adjustments, and that’s the mark of a great coach, the ability to adjust.”
On the other hand, the 66-year-old Cone said for Reyes to call him “mentor” got him “giggling” inside.
Still, the ever humble Ginebra bench tactician admitted that he’s actually the one learning so much from Reyes, especially during their time together at Gilas when they were preparing for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
“For me, I giggle when Chot said I’m his mentor. But I learned more from him than he learns from me
in the last stint with the World Cup in Manila,” said Cone. “I learned a lot, especially from the offensive side, the drills.”
Having established strong bonds as friends over the last three decades, Cone expects the title series between TNT and Barangay Ginebra to be tougher when they begin their championship hostilities this Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“I think the familiarity will play in the series at some point, just because he knows what I like to do, and I’ve learned what he likes to do,” said Cone. “That will surely play because the fact we worked together in the past, be it with Gilas or now, just the ideas we’ve been around and friends for so long, we spent time studying this game.”
Still, Cone said he and Reyes were able to develop their own set of coaching philosophies and systems that are unique in their own right. Though the Ginebra mentor believes that the best-of-seven title series eventually boils down to how the players will play and execute their respective team’s game plan.
“Even though we kind of grew up together in basketball, we both were very, very young when we started in 1991. We took different paths, and we have very distinct systems and almost opposite types of systems,” he said.
“It’s gonna be an interesting contrast. Chot says it’s not gonna come down to me and Chot, (but) Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) and Justin and the players around them, that’s how it should be,” he added.
“I’m gonna have fun watching Rondae play. His style of play is fun to watch, and watching Justin play in the system should be fun for them. It’s a match made in heaven.”
Ginebra is motivated to avenge its 2023 Governors’ Cup Finals loss to TNT, which at that time, had mercurial guard Mikey Williams providing the leadership at the backcourt en route to helping the Tropang Giga win the series, 4-2 and subsequently being named Finals Most Valuable Player.-
