Cone disappointed over Ginebra’s missing ‘Never Say Die’ spirit

MANILA, Philippines – Not one person emerged from the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel locker room with a smile on Sunday night, November 15 at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.

The Gin Kings were on the wrong side of a blowout against the San Miguel Beermen, 100-82, as they continue to struggle in the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup.

The league’s winningest coach Tim Cone, who was installed as Ginebra’s head coach in the offseason in a bid to end the team’s 7-year title drought, did not hide his disappointment and frustration over how his team played in the tough loss.

“We’re not at their level. It was very obvious tonight. It was disappointing,” a visibly crestfallen Cone said as reporters caught up with him. “We got disappointed when we fell behind.”

Cone was a picture of frustration in the fourth quarter as the Beermen blew by his team to break the game wide open, 94-71, on a pair of Alex Cabagnot charities with 3:22 left to play. 

Ginebra was the exact opposite of their well-oiled foes as they bricked all 12 of their 3-point attempts. In contrast, San Miguel made 14-of-40 triples on top of June Mar Fajardo getting his usual numbers of 22 points and 14 rebounds.

“We have a history and a legend that we have to live up to and that’s the ‘Never Say Die’ attitude. We just didn’t have that tonight and that’s something we got to try to build and believe in and get the fans to believe that we believe it too,” Cone lamented before giving assurances things will look up soon enough. 

“I was really disappointed with our play and disappointed for our fans that they had to watch that. We’re just gonna get better from here.” 

Ginebra is currently toiling at the bottom of the standings with a 1-3 record after they failed to follow up their first win of the conference against Alaska. 

The Gin Kings will next face Meralco on Tuesday, November 17 in Biñan, Laguna.  – Rappler.com