AS Severe Tropical Storm “Kristine” battered the country yesterday, coach Chot Reyes of defending champion TNT showed up at the Atrium inside Enderun College in Taguig in black sweatpants that matched his black jacket—an outfit fit for the cold and damp weather.
Ginebra counterpart Tim Cone arrived at the venue eight minutes later and chatted with Reyes like their teams were not the combatants in the PBA Governors’ Cup Big Dance.
For now, maybe. But expect a dogfight when Game 1 of the best-of-7 title battle gets going this Sunday, Oct. 27, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“Just very, very happy to be here playing against a tough team with an excellent coach,” Reyes said during the finals press conference. “In the end, magkakatalo iyan sa how the players execute and the team that is able to exert their own style of play on the basketball court.
“I know there is a lot of talk about me and Tim. But I’m sure he will agree that the players are going to determine how the outcome of the series is going to be,” he added.
Cone agreed, insisting the titular showdown will be played and won by their charges, led by the likes of reigning best import Rondale Hollis-Jefferson of the Tropang Giga along with teammates Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, Calvin Oftana, veterans Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams, and finals first-timer Rey Nambatac.
The Kings will pin their hopes on resident reinforcement Justin Brownlee, who is seeking his seventh title in the PBA; former MVP Scottie Thompson, rookie RJ Abarrientos, Stephen Holt, Maverick Ahanmisi, and veteran big man Japeth Aguilar.
“It’s not going to come down to me and Chot. It’s going to come down to Rondae and Justin, and the players around them,” Cone said. “They are going to be the ones who will decide the series and that’s how it should be.”
The two multi-titled strategists have clashed in the finals six times previously, but it will be the first time in this tourney since the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup where Cone, then coaching B-Meg (now Magnolia), won over Reyes in a classic seven-game tiff.
Reyes served as Cone’s deputy at the defunct Alaska franchise in the 1990s before they carved out different paths as champion tacticians with 25 and nine diadems, respectively.
They are 3-3 in their head-to-head battle in the championship round.
It will be the first time that Cone will go up against Reyes in the finals at the helm of the Kings.
TNT and Ginebra squared off in last year’s Governors’ Cup finals, but Jojo Lastimosa was the coach at that time, with Reyes focusing on his job as Gilas Pilipinas mentor.
Cone was Reyes’ chief assistant with the Nationals in last year’s FIBA World Cup.
Those are irrelevant when they battle wits anew,
“It’s a lot of fun watching Rondae play. His style of play is really fun to watch, and watching Justin in our system is going to be fun for them,” Cone said. “I just think it’s really a match made in heaven. The fans will have a great time watching the series.”
Ditto with Reyes, who said he does not dwell on the past.
“I don’t look at the trends. I don’t look at the past. What’s important is what’s in front of me. Just very happy to be here.”
Amid the storm, the protagonists are preparing for their storm on the court.