Cone, Reyes battle it out again in the Finals after 12 years
After 12 years, Coaches Tim Cone and Chot Reyes will battle it out once again in a PBA Finals.
Splitting their past six encounters at 3-3, the pals Cone and Reyes will grind it out in the championship match-up of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup.
The two mentors started their journey in Alaska when Coach Tim was still the head coach of the squad while Coach Chot was his chief deputy.
And now that they are together in the Finals once more, though in the opposing sides, Cone is happy to battle it out again with his friend.
"We are really just happy that we are back in and going to pit against my good friend coach Chot again," said the Barangay Ginebra mentor.
"There's always been that rivalry between Ginebra and TNT. Looking forward to mixing it up with my buddy," he added.
In their head-to-head match-up, Reyes won his first title against Cone during the 1994 Commissioner’s Cup when he guided Purefoods to a victory over Alaska.
Meanwhile, Tim Cone got back at his former deputy during the 1996 All-Filipino Cup. It was also the year where Alaska won grand slam titles.
The next two of their battles went to Cone as he won the 2003 Invitational Cup and the 2007 Fiesta Cup for Alaska, while Reyes won their last two competitions when he captured the 2002 All-Filipino Cup with Coca-Cola and the 2008-09 Philippine Cup with Talk ‘N Text.
Their next face-off will be the first time that Cone will take on Reyes in the Finals as the Gin Kings coach. The TNT-Ginebra tussle in the 2023 Governors’ Cup finals was between Cone and his former Alaska ward Jojo Lastimosa, who led the Tropang Texters to the promised land. Reyes at that time was focused on his role as Gilas Pilipinas head coach.
In the recently concluded semifinals, Cone and the Kings defeated the San Miguel Beermen in a gritty series, 4-2, while Reyes and the Tropang Giga overcame the young and persevering Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of their own series, 4-1.
The 66-year-old Cone, is the winningest coach in the league’s history with 25 titles tucked under his belt and still looking for more, while the 61-year-old Reyes has nine championships.
They were both multiple recipients of the “Coach of the Year” awards from the PBA Press Corps. The award is named after ‘The Maestro’ Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan.
Cone won the award four times already, while Reyes won it six times – the most in PBA’s history.
Game 1 of the finals will be on Sunday, October 27, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
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