Winning this year’s Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup has left Barangay Gin San Miguel Gin Kings coach Tim Cone in amazement because the Gin Kings have gone further than what they were expected to accomplish.
And claiming their fourth Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup title was beyond his expectation.
“Am I in shock? Yeah. And we are a team that does not quit and we have that legacy,” said Cone after the Gin Kings took Game 6 of the best-of-seven championship showdown with a 103-92 victory, to finish their series with the Meralco Bolts with a 4-2 triumph.
The Gin Kings have dominated the Governors’ Cup championships over the last five years, while settling for the Commissioner’s Cup title in 2017.
The Ginebra franchise, under different club team names, has earned a total of 14 PBA crowns since winning the PBA Open Conference plum in 1986.
Since then, the club has been trying its best to live up to their reputation as a do-or-die or never-say-die team.
“It’s always an honor and a curse at the same time to try to live up to. And these guys have been trying to find a way to do that,” said Cone.
The Ginebra mentor remembered the days in the elimination round when the Gin Kings were not in the best shape.
Being in seventh place during the elimination round was a struggle for the team. And trying to get past a 5-5 win-loss record following their 103-115 loss to the NLEX Road Warriors was a big challenge that they finally overcame.
“If this happened to us in a bubble, we would have not been able to overcome this,” added Cone, who noted that three of his players, Japeth Aguilar, Christian Standhardinger and Justin Brownlee were recovering from long layoffs and injuries because of COVID-19 restrictions back then.
But in the finals, the cheers of the fans gave them a lift, as their games picked up as soon as they reached the quarterfinals.
“When we started playing better basketball, the fans started started going crazy. And that just lifted us up, and they kept us going, especially in the quarterfinals,” said Cone.
Also, Scottie Thompson distinguished himself as a cut above the rest after winning the Best Player of the Conference plum and taking the Finals Most Valuable Player honors as well.
The 6’1” do-it-all guard earned his spurs after averaging of 17.83 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.17 steals in the series.
This was Thompson’s second Finals’ MVP award as he also won the trophy back in the 2018 PBA Commissioners’ Cup.