Cone explains endgame benching of C-Stan, Scottie vs NLEX

Cone explains endgame benching of C-Stan, Scottie vs NLEX

TIM Cone assured there’s nothing wrong with Christian Standhardinger and Scottie Thompson after the two sat out the crucial stretch of Barangay Ginebra’s final game in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations against NLEX.

Cone said he pulled out his two starters to let the other Kings play and make them ready for the playoffs – nothing more, nothing less.

“Nothing happened to Scottie, nothing happened to Christian. I just needed guys to go out there,” said the champion coach.

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Cone had to stress the point after the 6-foot-8 Fil-German and the former MVP were nowhere to be found in the endgame of the Kings’ 76-72 loss to the Road Warriors on Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Standhardinger was taken out for good by Cone with 7:08 left in the game and Ginebra trailing, 73-61, while Thompson didn’t see action for the entire fourth period after being substituted late in the third quarter.

Instead, Cone went to Japeth Aguilar, Stanley Pringle, Maverick Ahanmisi and Ralph Cu and alternated Nards Pinto and Von Pessumal as the Kings launched a comeback that just fell short in the end.

“Sometimes we rely too much on Christian and Scottie. Guys kind of forget to play on their own, so it was important for us to get Stanley out there in that stretch, without having to look for Scottie and look for Christian,” Cone explained.

“He (Stanley) kind of have to look for himself and that was kind of the point, playing the other guys down the stretch.”

Standhardinger topscored for 19 points aside for hauling 10 rebounds and issuing seven assists, while Thompson only had four points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Aguilar meanwhile finished with 15 points, Ahanmisi added 14, Pringle with nine, and Cu with five, eight rebounds, and five assists in a balanced scoring for the Kings.

tim cone nards pinto

PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

“It’s kind of like what –I’m not saying I’m him – but when Phil Jackson would pull out Scottie [Pippen] and Michael Jordan off the floor and make guys play. Or take Kobe [Bryant] and Shaq [O’Neal] out and make guys play. That was kind of the idea,” said Cone of the same coaching decisions the ‘Zen Master’ would do during his time with the Chicago Bulls and the LA Lakers.

At the same time, the move allowed Standhardinger and Thompson to have some rest and be healthy for the playoffs.

“Now they’re (Thompson and Standhardinger) healthy, and we want to keep them healthy. That was important to us,” said Cone.

The second seeded Kings do need to be healthy since they will be up against No. 7 and bitter rival Magnolia Hotshots in the quarterfinals, though they own a twice-to-beat advantage.