Cone shares winning culture that leads to championships

The winningest coach in the history of the Philippine Basketball Association has entered the Finals once again and will try to win his 26th title while leading Ginebra to the Promised Land.

In an exclusive interview with Scoreline.ph, Coach Tim Cone shared how he established a winning culture to every team that he handled.

The multi-champion mentor also shared that if the players feel like they're growing and getting better every day, then a coach can elevate his team to different levels and hopes that will lead their team to a championship.

And handling the Ginebra squad that he has right now, Cone believes that they are a culture-based team that pays attention to details and defense.

"You know, we really want to be attentive to details. I think we're number one, we're defensive minded. We have a defensive mindset that comes, that's priority number one."

Cone also said that there are four things that they wanted to focus on — attention to details, defensive mindset, being empathetic, and being accountable to what you do.

"We want to be attentive to detail. We want to be empathetic to our teammates. In other words, we want, you know, we want to care about our teammates, care about the success of your teammate. And we want to make sure that everybody has accountability." 

The statement is what coach Tim also believed in ever since he started coaching. He already brought that belief when he entered the league in 1989.

"It defines your character," said Cone about defense. "You don't get any glory for defense. You get glory for offense, for scoring. The crowd goes ooh and ah when you score. But now everybody makes mention of the defense. So if you give yourself to the defense, that shows your character, that you're giving yourself to the team. And so we believe that if we're constantly doing that, then we're going to be a really good team. And we're going to have a chance to win championships. So yes, defense does win championships."

Finals rematch against TNT.

Now that Coach Tim is in the Finals against TNT once more, he said that the Tropang Giga will be a tough nut to crack especially that his counterpart coach Chot Reyes knows him very well and the matchups will be intriguing especially the battle between two great imports.

It will also be a contrasting style of play for both teams as Ginebra plays more of a triangle-offense while TNT runs through the dribble, drive, and flow. With that being said, Cone believes that will be really a treat for the fans.

Asked if the series might be long, coach Tim said that they always plan for a long series but there's no guarantee that it will be a long one.

"You figure that because the teams are even, it should go six or seven games, but there's never any guarantee that it's going to happen. Sometimes a team can get on a roll during a series and put a couple of games together and put the pressure on the other team. But I think from a coaching standpoint, you always plan it to be a long series."

Cone has so much praise for his prized import. He said that JB is a nice guy and such a great teammate, humble, quiet, and loved by his teammates. But there's a deep part of the Gilas naturalized player that is really competitive and always likes to win.

Brownlee not just makes himself better but also his teammates. As coach Tim said, he thinks Justin loves to win to see his teammates happy.

"I don't think he really ever plays for himself. He plays for his teammates to see them happy. I think that's such a unique skill and one of the reasons he's truly the best or if not the best, one of the best."

Cone even asks the people to enjoy the contributions of Brownlee in the world of basketball as he is nearing the tail-end of his career.

"He's tapering towards the end of his career right now. So those young people who get to see him now, you may not get to see him four or five years from now. So take advantage of what you're seeing. It's almost like watching Michael Jordan live. I used to watch Michael Jordan live. That was an amazing thing. Now the young people can only think about Michael Jordan but they ever saw him play. But now's your opportunity. You can go out and see Justin. So my message is to take advantage of that now. Go watch Justin play. And against R.H.J., that's going to be a classic matchup," Cone in complementing his import.

Finals and championships might be familiar words to coach Tim Cone already but he keeps on learning the game he loves that is why winning culture is just second to none to the most decorated mentor in PBA history.

Game 1 of the Finals will be on Sunday, October 27, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.