Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone could not help but feel for Meralco counterpart Norman Black as the Gin Kings proved to be a roadblock to the Bolts’ path to success anew.

Ginebra dealt Meralco another heartbreak after pulling off an 83-80 win in their do-or-die battle for a spot in the PBA Philippine Cup finals, with Scottie Thompson dealing the killer blow with a last-second three-pointer.

“I really feel for Norman because he coached a hell of a series. From the bottom of my heart, it was a tremendously coached series,” Cone said.

“We’re not really best friends, but we’re close, so it really pains to know the pain he has to go through for us to be happy.”

Cone said he endured the same pain back when Black called the shots for San Miguel decades ago.

When Cone entered the PBA as head coach for Alaska in 1989, Black steered San Miguel to a rare Grand Slam in the same year.

“I know how disappointing that is. I’ve been on the other side of that. Early in my career, we just could not beat San Miguel at any time,” Cone said.

“When Norman was coaching that team, we could not beat them. It just seemed like they would make a big shot every time down the stretch and we would go home disappointed.”

Such was the case for Meralco, which lost all of its 4 previous playoff series against Ginebra, including 3 encounters in the Governors’ Cup finals.

Reaching the All-Filipino semifinals for the first time in franchise history, Meralco had hoped to end that dry spell this season only to witness Ginebra keep the status quo.

“That is what sports is all about – the pain and the jubilation. It can be separated by just a very, very thin line and we’ve been fortunate to be able to beat the Meralco team,” Cone said.

Cone tipped his hat to Black for putting together a “great team.”

“I cannot give them a better compliment than that. That is better than having a bunch of great players. It is more important to have a great team and I think they’re a great team.” – Rappler.com