BMEG upgrades coaching team; got TIM CONE!

Tim Cone starts to coach at BMEG's practice

           What a big surprise! After the departure of Joe Devance in Alaska Team, he doesn't expect someone will join him in his new team. It's his former coach Tim Cone. But the 13-time PBA champion will be surrounded by familiar faces in the sidelines when he takes over the B-MEG Llamados coaching job.

        Two members of Cone’s 1996 Alaska Grand Slam team — Johnny Abarrientos and Jeffrey Cariaso — will join Cone as assistants, reuniting to form their own version of the triangle. Cariaso won the PBA Rookie of the Year award with Alaska in 1995 before leaving the team in 1997. In 2004, Cariaso was reacquired by the Aces, with whom he played until his retirement last season. Abarrientos, meanwhile, was the engine of Cone’s Alaska dynasty in the 1990s. The 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player had spent the last few years as part of the coaching staff of Ginebra, which like B-MEG falls under the San Miguel Corporation umbrella. “I got Johnny na parang trade sa Ginebra,” Cone said. “I traded him for Art dela Cruz.” Cone was introduced to the Llamados on Wednesday. The two former Alaska stalwarts, he said, will help him install his vaunted system in the talent-laden B-MEG squad. “The bottom line is I want people who know the triangle offense to help me out there,” added Cone. “[On Wednesday morning], I was only introduced to the team and gave them some sort of a preview on the triangle, but we will have our official practice session together tomorrow (Thursday).”

Talented pieces

         Cone said he was thrilled about the pieces available in the B-MEG lineup. “They’re a solid bunch of talent,” he said. “I’m really excited to handle a team with such talented players like James Yap, Kerby Raymundo, Joe Devance, Peter June Simon, Roger Yap, Marc Pingris and Rico Maierhofer, among others.” He added that Cariaso will play a key role in getting the Llamados guard corps up to speed with his system. “I expect James as well as the other guards like PJ Simon or Roger Yap to learn a few things from Jeff, who is a two-way player,” said Cone. “Jeff is one of those guys I’ve known to play solid on both ends of the court.” Another source of excitement for Cone is the impending return of athletic forwards Kerby Raymundo and Rico Maierhofer from serious injuries.

“Kerby and Rico had their first practice session, although Rico only did some running and avoided to get himself involved in a contact with fellow players,” he said. But beyond the present, Cone is also looking ahead to the future, which for B-MEG is represented by one name: Mark Barroca. “He reminds me of a young Johnny Abarrientos,” said Cone. Barroca, like Abarrientos, is a product of Far Eastern University. Cone expects the former MVP to tutor the rookie point guard. “It would be wonderful to see him learning things from one of the best ever to play the game,” said Cone of Barroca.

Coaching shuffle

         Cone’s entry alongside Abarrientos and Cariaso into B-MEG, however, has resulted into a shuffle of the team’s brain trust. Jorge Gallent, Rey Evangelista, and Art dela Cruz, who were all part of the coaching staff last season, will be headed elsewhere. “Art dela Cruz is going back to Ginebra while SMC management said they will take care of Jorge Gallent,” said Cone. Meanwhile, Evangelista, a beloved former Purefoods player who spent all fifteen of his playing seasons with the squad, will be moving on from basketball, according to B-MEG governor Rene Pardo. “He needs to go to the province and help out his parents in the family business, so he opted to retire,” said Pardo. Cone said, however, that longtime B-MEG assistant Koy Banal will be part of his staff. “I lost one Banal, but I’ve got another Banal,” noted Cone, who worked with Banal’s older brother Joel in Alaska. The elder Banal took over the Aces’ coaching vacancy after Cone’s departure. Richard del Rosario, who was appointed acting head coach by B-MEG management prior to Cone’s signing, will remain with the team. While the team’s coaching situation was in flux, del Rosario oversaw the team’s offseason training sessions.“It’s been a productive two weeks as practice head coach,” wrote del Rosario on Twitter a few hours before Cone was introduced to the team. “It’s time to turn over the baton and move on. Coach will meet a well-conditioned team.”

Winning ways

          The winningest active coach in the PBA, Cone believes that his new players will adapt quickly to his system. More than that, however, he hopes to bring his winning ways to his new team. “I’d like to share the things and the values that I’ve learned and rub it off on my new team,” Cone said. “There’s always a challenge out there and my new challenge is how to make B-MEG, a team with great potential, become a great team.”