For Tim Cone, tying Baby Dalupan's record is 'very humbling'

Tim Cone has called the shots in the pro league long enough to know the significance of tying legendary tactician Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan atop the list of coaches with the most PBA championships.

Thanks to his charges’ collective desire and indomitable spirit in the stretch, Cone, 55, notched his 15th overall crown following San Mig Coffee’s remarkable 87-77 victory against favored Petron Blaze in their winner-take-all match in the PBA Governors Cup finals before an overflowing Friday night crowd at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s very humbling to tie a great coach and great man like that. I’m kind of speechless. I don’t know what to say,” pointed out Cone in a television interview as the Mixers celebrated their 10th overall title in franchise history.

“I wish he (Dalupan) had been here tonight. It would have been sweet to have him here,” said the American coach, who also essayed a Grand Slam in 1996 when he was still with Alaska, then led by former league MVP Johnny Abarrientos and former Rookie of the Year Jeff Cariaso, who now serve as his assistant coaches at San Mig Coffee.

While basking in the glow of his latest coaching victory, Cone couldn’t help but recall how he first lost to Dalupan, who recently turned 90, in a championship series before winning one title after another.

“A lot of people don’t know that my first finals appearance was his last championship. I was leading two-to-zero and he swept me three games in a row,” he shared, referring to how Dalupan and the Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, ironically the franchise now coached by Cone, stunned the Milkmen during the 1990 Third Conference finals.

ALSO READ: Pingris caps amazing year with finals MVP award

Winning his record-tying title didn’t come on a silver platter for Cone.

The Mixers got off to an alarming start, dropping their first two and three of their four initial outings. Pushing the panic button, though, was far from Cone’s mind as San Mig racked up five straight wins to finish second behind topnotcher Petron Blaze in the sprint-like eliminations round.

In the quarterfinals, the Mixers were forced to play a sudden-death match with archnemesis Alaska Aces before they defeated the pumped-up Meralco Bolts in four grind-it-out games in the semifinals.

Getting over the Boosters in the finals proved tougher for the Mixers as they even trailed 1-2 in the series then took the next four of five games to seal their date with destiny, a year after falling short against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in another epic seven-game series.

“We never lacked faith. In fact, we felt early adversity will help us later on. Then we had that great series against Alaska. We went through the wringer on that. And then (we faced) Meralco, our corporate rival, and Petron. But our guys were incredible. I think we were just able to found a way to win. Our team has done a great job. It was really something special,” gushed Cone.

He also did not forget to pay tribute to their fans, collectively known as the San Mig Coffee Planet. “After we started zero-and two, I told them (on Twitter) ‘I’m sorry guys. But stay with us and we’ll make you proud later on.’ I’m really kilig that we were able to make them proud tonight,” he beamed.  “This is really yours. I’m really proud of the fans. You’re really special.”