Cone believes Ginebra has depth to compete in PH Cup

MANILA, Philippines — While Barangay Ginebra got its butt kicked during its recent PBA Philippine Cup clash with powerhouse San Miguel Beer, coach Tim Cone feels the Gin Kings have the depth to compete in the all-Filipino conference.

Cone's charges said in the import conference, obviously, the foreign reinforcement takes the lion's share of minutes for the forward or guard position, similar to what resident import Justin Brownlee has done since he first came over in 2016.

"The thing is, we're gonna have a looser rotation this time around and play a little bit more of our depth," Cone said. "When everybody has an import, you can't do a deep lineup because that import takes in one position. Without them (imports), depth becomes an advantage without an import." With Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, Jamie Malonzo, Troy Rosario, Stephen Holt and rookie guard RJ Abarrientos taking the lead, the American mentor feels they have the depth to try to make a return trip to the Finals.

Ginebra showed that depth and firepower during its conference debut last Wednesday, pounding Terrafirma like a squashed pulp, 101-80.

The Gin Kings though got manhandled by the Beermen, 104-93 two days as Cone's charges allowed SMB to shoot over 51 percent from the field.

The Beermen got off to a hot start, leading, 22-6 as they quickly took advantage of the Gin Kings' sluggish start.

SMB went on to pad the lead to as high as 23 points and was hardly threatened by Ginebra en route to booking its third win in four starts.

"It was an embarrassing performance by us tonight, but that's what happen when you come to a game unprepared against San Miguel," said Cone, disappointed with how the team played in the battle of early title favorites.

Ginebra has several days more to get its bearing back before returning to action this Wednesday against NorthPort at the Philsports Arena.