In a league where the players have grown taller and more athletic than those of generation ago, they were supposed to be a class apart. They were billed to win games by big margins; they were supposed to awe and dominate. On a star-studded bench, they were groomed to be superstars who would power the Barangay Ginebra Kings to a lion’s share of championships.
On paper, this seemed to be the script etched in indelible ink for the league’s tallest twin towers, Greg Slaughter at over 7 feet and Aguilar at just under 6-foot-10. But then, in most games their power hardly made a difference; they did not awe the opposition; rather they disappointed their most rabid fans. Whether rooting for them in the galleries of Mall of Asia or Smart Araneta Coliseum, their fans have had to endure more heartburns and heartbreaks than those standing up for San Miguel Beer, or the Rain or Shine or Alaska.
“When the KIngs needed them they weren’t there,” said a once-diehard Gin fan that has given up on them this year. “Although they often produce big numbers,” he continued, “these counted for nothing. Almost always they disappeared in the clutch.”
Giants physically, but in the game they are not. That may be too strong a word to explain just how the two have not really lived up to hype. The truth is, they have the potential to be great. But with a Ginebra team coming under too many changes of coaching staffs over the past few seasons that we’ve lost track of the count, genuine growth for these two is impossible.
They had not come under a power, a force, or an entity that could instruct them, inspire them, drive them well beyond their limits, and transform them into not just imposing physical specimens of height but extraordinary weapons of destruction when playing the enemy.
In our universe, the indispensable law is to follow your sun, and everything will be all right. It is the giver of light and life.
But over the past few seasons, and desperate to win a championship after a series of failed starts, the Kings have failed to establish a much-needed heliocentric philosophy, moving as they did from one formula to another. One coaching change led to another. It was as if the team was ditching an old wardrobe and taking on a new one to look sleek a battle-ready.
Such hyped-up changes have come too often to leave any mark other than to reshuffle the pecking order in the team’s star-studded lineup. The last of these changes have come only recently—and the fit just didn’t feel right, at least from the Kings’ first two games in the Philippine Basketball Association’s current Philippine Cup. His name: Tim Cone. Towering in reputation, winner of more Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) championships than any other pro-league mentor since 1975.
Having already topped the record of the legendary Baby Dalupan (of Crispa and Great Taste fame), Cone came into the Ginebra mix with unquestioned gravitas. Here at last is a guy who has a core philosophy about winning. Here at last is a script worthy of a conference-ending championship: the league’s most popular ballclub being led by no less than the league’s winningest bench tactician
But Cone fell twice in as many starts in the new conference. In fact he fell disastrously, and the stumbling start seemed to take away the luster from this star-spangled partnership. That’s how bad the situation looked last week.
But Saturday night in Dubai came, and Cone salvaged a pulsating contest over the quintet whose glory years in the pro league he had pretty much authored. It was Sunday morning in Manila when the score came through the wires. The Kings nipped the Aces, 93-92, to record their first win in the Tim Cone era.
Never mind that the Kings faltered again, never mind that they lost a 19-point spread at halftime when the former Gilas Pilipinas rookie standout Calvin Abueva and the steady Dondon Hontiveros sparked the Aces’ torrid comeback, even taking a 92-91 edge with 14.9 ticks to go.
Cone won the nail-biting encounter with his two tallest players—Slaughter and Aguilar—making the biggest statements at last when it counted most.
Slaughter was as superb as could be. He outmuscled the Aces with 19 boards, and punctured the hoop for 27 points. And with 4.1 seconds to go, shooting from the charity stripe, sent there by a foul from Noy Baclao, his nerves held. He sank the go-ahead freebies, but the drama didn’t end there. Vic Manuel fired one shot and Jayvee Casio shot another, but both attempts rimmed out as time expired on the Aces.
Aguilar also held his own against Alaska’s solid but smaller frontline. He nearly matched Slaughter’s output with his own double-double for the night, 23 points and 12 rebounds. Old warhorses LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa played their best in the first half, each finishing with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
In the second half the Kings had no reply to the souped-up Aces, who had taken to the court barely 24 hours after rolling back Mahindra at the same Al Wasi Sports Club. The Kings dodged the bullet, but not the disapproving looks of wary fans.
This win was struggling. Have we seen the future of the Kings in the Tim Cone era?