Cone wary of rough patch; TNT beefs up on NLEX talent anew

Coach Tim Cone admitted that Barangay Ginebra may have to overcome some tough issues after returning to the floor for its next mission: winning the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup for the third time in a row.

“We were at the height of playing the Bay Area [Commissioner’s Cup] The finals will be tough to get to that level when we get back to training in the new conference,” Cone told the Inquirer a few days after beating the Dragons for the midseason title.

Not only that, teams are building to shoot Raja, among them is TNT, which has added another player from its sister squad NLEX to its arsenal.

The league’s trade committee approved a deal that sent big man Justin Chua to the flagship franchise MVP Group, giving the one-time defenseman a fresh start after seeing his playing time decrease with the Road Warriors.

Deal details

Chua will be joined by Paul Varilla at TNT, who also got NLEX’s second-round pick in next season’s draft. But Phoenix must be involved in order for the deal to go through because the PBA prohibits teams within one possession from making direct trades.

Phoenix released veteran forwards Sean Anthony and Jake Pascual to NLEX while acquiring J-Jay Alejandro, Raul Soyud and a season 52 pick from TNT.

This is the third time NLEX has sent a top player to TNT since 2020, with Chua joining former NLEX stalwarts Poy Erram and Calvin Oftana in the Tropang Giga camp.

Erram was dealt in February 2020 after one season with the Road Warriors, while Oftana, who was the main attacking weapon under former NLEX coach Yeng Guiao, was sold to Tropang Giga before the Commissioner’s Cup.

NLEX also returned the 4th pick of the 2021 Draft to TNT, which Tropang Giga used to select high scoring guard Mikey Williams.

Ginebra crushed the visitors from Hong Kong after seven exciting games, sealing the deal in front of 54,589 fans at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, in what could be the best gift for Cone since he started shooting for the country’s most popular team.

Disadvantages

But the space of three weeks between the end of the series with the Dragons and the start of the third conference campaign on February 5 against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters could put the Gin Kings at a disadvantage in the first place.

That’s why Cone hopes that Ginebra can make an impact in the playoffs, and maybe it will show when playoff time comes.

“We need to rebuild our momentum as we go through the conference,” he said.

Justin Brownlee will try to give the Gin Kings a seventh championship with him in an import-laden conference after a huge performance against the Dragons in the recent Finals.

A local lineup featuring Scottie Thompson, Commissioner’s Cup Finals Most Valuable Player Christian Standhardinger and Jamie Malonzo will also adjust quickly.

Chua was hailed as the league’s best defensive player by the PBA Press Corps in the 2020 Philippine Cup bubble while the former Ateneo player is still suiting up for Phoenix.

He was part of Guiao’s regular rotation at NLEX before the minute he went down under coach Frankie Lim, who took over when Guiao left for Rain or Shine.

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