Tim Cone: 'If we could avoid Magnolia, we certainly would've'

Tim Cone: ‘If we could avoid Magnolia, we certainly would’ve’

BARANGAY Ginebra could have avoided an early quarterfinal showdown with rival Magnolia in the PBA Philippine Cup.

But it is what it is.

“I mean if we could avoid Magnolia, we certainly would’ve. But we couldn’t,” said coach Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“We’re facing them later on in the tournament, not having to knock each other out this early,” he added. “But you don’t really have control over that.”

READ Ginebra, Magnolia end up in quarterfinal face-off after final losses

The early ‘Manila Clasico’ match-up was cast in stone after the Kings and Hotshots lost in the last playdate of the eliminations.

Magnolia bowed to TNT, 98-93, while Barangay Ginebra fell short of its comeback and went down against NLEX, 74-72.

The Kings already had a lock at No. 2 as early as last week and hold a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs.

The loss was actually a costly one for the Hotshots, who fell to as low as No. 7 after initially contending for the no. 2 spot.

While the Kings already had an idea on who their opponent would be in the playoffs just before the NLEX game, Cone said he didn’t give much thought about it as there’s still a job to be done against the Road Warriors.

tim cone ginebra pba

PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

“I haven’t given it much thought yet. I have to let it sink in and figure it out,” said Cone. But my first reaction is that we could’ve avoided it.”

The quarterfinals get underway on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.