MANILA, Philippines – As expected, the respect between coaches Tim Cone and Chot Reyes remained at an all-time high after their classic match at the PBA Philippine Cup.
On Friday at PhilSports Arena, Ginebra outscored TNT by one point, 87-83, and when the buzzer sounded, Cone once again tipped his hat to Reyes.
„I really hate playing against Chotto. I really hate it,“ Cohn said. „First of all, he knows me like a book and I lose more matches than I win against him. That's why I don't like playing against him, but I We were at the World Cup together, so he asked me to be there and I basically played.''I'm in the position of national team coach here, so he has that right. I owe you everything. ”
read: PBA: Ginebra shakes off TNT to win 3rd straight
There is a lot of common history between the two veteran tacticians. As an example, the two will score a shot for Gilas Pilipinas at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila.
But even after that, both coaches put on their thinking hats to help improve the national team program.
A few months after the World Championships, Reyes ceded the head coaching position to Cone, which led to Gilas having impressive performances at the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, and most recently in the first window of the 2025 FIBA Asian Cup Qualifiers.
„We've given each other a lot over the years. We've given each other opportunities. We have a lot of respect and just from a coaching standpoint, he I have a lot of respect for him, much less from a personal or friendship standpoint, but the coaching points are really big,” Cohn said of Reyes.
But it's an international stage. At the PBA All-Filipino Conference, it's all business.
„We're definitely going to be upset when we lose to each other, but it'll probably calm down after a day or two,“ Cohn said.
The Gin Kings improved to 6-3 and inched closer to the all-important No. 2 seed, while the Tropang Giga will need to climb the conference ladder in the latter half of the conference with a 4-4 record.