Cone faces uncertain future as Alaska coach

Tim Cone’s success as Alaska coach is anchored behind the Aces’ vaunted Triangle Offense, a strategy that helped the squad in building a Philippine Basketball Association dynasty in the 1990s.

Cone and Alaska are like any other sweet couple that stood the test of time. But will the multi-titled coach and the Aces keep their 20-year-old affair after Alaska suffered a 4-0 beating against the Purefoods TJ Giants in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup? For Cone, the setback could only mean one thing – his tenure as Alaska coach isn’t anymore secured. "There’s no excuse for the setback. Either we lose by one point or by 20 points. The bottom line there is that you still lost games. And in an organization like ours, there’s no guarantee in terms of security once you performed that way. What more when you got swept in the finals?," Cone told GMANews.TV. Owner of 12 league championships – all from Alaska – and architect of the franchise’s only grandslam feat in 1996, Cone got swept in the finals for the first time in his career by Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio. In fact, in three head-to-head duels with Gregorio, the veteran mentor lost all of them against his youthful counterpart. Cone, the longest tenured mentor in the PBA and winnigest bench tactician among active coaches, also had his ups and downs in the 20 years of coaching Alaska. "I swept a team and was swept as well. I fought in short series and seven-game series and won and lost quite a number of them. In 20 years of coaching you will experience a lot of those," he added. Cone’s contract is set to expire this July. He admitted that his fate as Alaska coach remains uncertain, especially after the team was swept in the finals. So what does the future hold for Cone? For the American mentor, coaching is still his ultimate priority. "I love coaching and I would love to coach any team," added Cone, who is second in the all-time list for most number of championships behind his idol, the legendary Virgilio “Baby" Dalupan. "But if Alaska would want me to be there, then I would stay. Alaska has been my home in the PBA and the leaders in the organization are my mentors." Alaska team manager and PBA board governor Joaqui Trillo said in a text message that “he sees no problem with Alaska dealing with Cone on a possible contract renewal." Whether he would be offered to continue coaching the Aces, be given a new position with Alaska or find himself going into another team remains to be seen. Cone is now setting his sights for the PBA Fiesta Conference where teams will parade imports 6-foot-6 and below. "We’re all excited in the coming conference. We’re looking forward to have Sam (Eman) playing for us and see what impact he can bring while seeing action along with Sonny Thoss," said Cone. – GMANews.TV