Tim Cone walks a familiar path with San Mig Super Coffee
After winning a Governors’ Cup title with the help of a do-it-all import, Tim Cone’s squad went into the PBA Rookie Draft and nabbed an athlete with tremendous potential. They went into the brand new PBA season with tired legs from their last campaign and satisfied egos because of their recent success. They suffered from what people call a championship hangover and the result was losing five of their first six games.
The year was 1994 not 2014. The do-it-all import was Sean Chambers not Marqus Blakely. The draft pick was Jeffrey Cariaso not Ian Sangalang. The team was named Alaska not San Mig Super Coffee.
Twenty years ago, Cone was coming off just the second championship of his career with Alaska. He didn’t know that a few weeks after, he’d be facing a tough task along with his Milkmen. Cone fought through that adversity and managed to conquer it. His version from 1994 had no idea that it will happen once again two decades later.
“It’s really hard coaching a team that just won a championship,” shared Cone after his San Mig Super Coffee Mixers scored the biggest win of the 2014 PBA season against the Petron Blaze Boosters. “Obviously I didn’t do a good job in the beginning because we were 1-and-5.”
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The season started with so much promise for the Mixers. Even after winning a title, they had the second pick in the draft, which they used to get Sangalang. They kept their team intact and they were poised to compete with the very best teams in the league.
In their first game of the season again Ginebra, the Mixers went to the halftime break holding a lead. During the break, the Mixers must have realized that they were still tired from their grueling seven-game series against Petron. They must have thought that they deserve a longer break after another title. They must have convinced themselves that it was okay to lose that game because they checked out. They lost to Ginebra, then to Alaska, then to Petron. They managed to defeat Air21 though it did take them two overtime periods to do it. The Mixers then dropped their next to games to Meralco and Rain or Shine for a 1-and-5 record, a figure all too familiar for Cone.
“I just had to let the players find their own way. I just kept my patience because I know at one point they will stop wanting to sink,” Cone said. “It took us longer than I thought. Before I thought it would take us two or three games but it took half the conference.”
To be fair, it was a tough turnaround for the Mixers. Because of the delay caused by the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, the break in between the seasons was really short. The Mixers spent time enjoying the perks of being champions but the time was too short for them to get back into game shape.
“For us this conference is like a perfect storm of discontent, in a way. We had the rookie draft, we brought four guys in, and we only had one week of practice to integrate them,” the coach lamented. “They didn’t understand what we were doing and they kind of discouraged the veterans.”
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The injuries to their key guys also didn’t help.
“Joe [Devance] and PJ [Simon] were out in the first three games and then Ping [Marc Pingris] was out for a couple of games and then James [Yap] was out,” Cone continued. “We weren’t healthy so we never had that continuity. So it was a difficult time for us.”
It all boiled over for Cone and his Mixers in their second meeting against Rain or Shine, at team that has long been a thorn in their sides. The Mixers watched as the Elastopainters built a 23-point halftime lead. San Mig Super Coffee fans watched as their team got clobbered 101-77. In that game maybe for the first time in his career, Cone stopped coaching. He stopped talking to his players, stopped calling plays. He just sat there and stared blankly at the floor.
“I just tried to do different things. I hate the term silent treatment but I guess it’s what happened,” Cone recalled. “Basically I was just saying ‘Look, I’ve done all I can to get you guys out of it. It hasn’t work so now it’s your turn to figure it out. You can’t keep looking at me and find inspiration from because I don’t have it. Now it’s up to you to find it.’ I’m not saying it works all the time. It was definitely a desperate move and I’m not even sure if it has worked yet.”
Cone may not like exactly where his team is right now. They have clinched a slot in the quarterfinals but they need to win against three-time defending champions Talk ‘N Text to assure they won’t be staring at a twice-to-win disadvantage.
“But as I’d always say: what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. And I kept telling the team that if we can get through this, if we can get out of it then we’re going to be a much better team if we fight our way out of this,” Cone said.
“After winning a championship, no one could be really mad at us for giving up this conference.”
It’s completely true. The Governors’ Cup title was a surprise for Cone and his Mixers because they had to win it against a Petron team at looked unbeatable during that conference. No one would have blamed them for tanking specially because bottoming out would allow them to hire the services of Denzel Bowles; the import who won already won them a championship.
“But it’s our own sense of pride. It was really up to the guys if they wanted to fight out of it and they fought,” the coach said. “Finally we’re where we are right now. We have done better but we haven’t been great yet. We still got to make some noise.”
The American mentor knows this could work because he was in this situation before. He knows that before a team could be truly great, it needs to fight over this slump. It needs to conquer the feeling of satisfaction. It has to learn how to be hungry again.
“There was that time in 1994 after we won a championship in the third conference. We actually drafted Jeffrey Cariaso to the team and we started out the next conference 0-and-4,” Cone recalled. “It was a horrible time. We also ended up going 1-and-5.”
But then that Alaska team with all-time greats Johnny Abarrientos, Jojo Lastimosa, Bong Hawkins, and Cariaso fought back. Instead of panicking and trading players left and right. Cone and his squad convinced themselves that they were too good to be in that situation
“And then we won five games in a row, went to the playoffs and got back to the finals. We got beaten by Sunkist at that time,” Cone added. He mentioned the loss to Sunkist with no bitterness. He knew his Milkmen lost to a better team. He also knew that losing that them closer together, made them more driven.
“To continue that story, we went to the next finals and then we won another championship in the third conference. Then the following year we won a grand slam.”
The Mixers were drowning in frustrations early in the conference. But instead of jumping in to their rescue, Cone trusted that they have it in them to fight back. Cone knew that when the Mixers learn how to get out of the deep waters, they’ll be a much better team. He knew exactly what to do because he has survived it before.
“It was kind of like we had to get through that and understand that before we could get to a whole new level,” Cone continued about his Milkmen. “Again, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That time didn’t kill us. It kept us together, we figured out a way, and it got us to another level.”
“Whether that’s going to happen this time, I don’t know. The competition is a lot tougher now,” Cone closed. “But were just going to keep plugging away and see what happens.”
