Keeping its players healthy proved to be the key for Barangay Ginebra as it finally captured its first PBA Philippine Cup championship in 13 years.

While finals foe TNT endured injuries to superstars Ray Parks and Jayson Castro, Ginebra had all of its key players at its disposal to wrap up the best-of-seven series in just 5 games.

“I thought we had a good balance of work and rest and that led us all the way to the finals,” said Cone as Ginebra survived the grind of an entire conference compressed in two months.

“We always say in our team that our health is our weapon. We feel if we’re healthy, we always have a chance to win, we have a chance to compete for championships.”

It was not the same case for TNT, which lost in the finals for the second time in the last two seasons.

Parks – a Best Player of the Conference contender – missed the last 4 finals games due to a left calf strain, while Castro did not suit up in Game 5 no thanks to bone spurs on his left knee.

Cone, though, also had to deal with the same health dilemma going into the PBA bubble in Clark, Pampanga and even questioned their chances of reaching the playoffs.

LA Tenorio came off an appendectomy less than two weeks before the conference resumed, while Japeth Aguilar joined the bubble late due to a previous injury.

Ginebra also did not have Greg Slaughter, who took a break from the PBA after his contract expired last season.

“I remember coming into the bubble, we didn’t have Greg, we didn’t have Japeth, we didn’t have LA, and I was saying to myself, ‘Can we even make the playoffs? Can we prevent ourselves from being eliminated?'” Cone said.

Several players stepped up to propel Ginebra to a 4-0 start before Tenorio and Aguilar reached their peak en route to the title.

Aguilar carried the scoring cudgels in the closeout Game 5, while Tenorio won the Finals MVP honors.

“[T]hose first 4 games, I think, kind of jettisoned to where we are now. To look back on it and to go through what we did to get to where we are, it made it so much sweeter,” Cone said. – Rappler.com