A Rivalry of Legends
TNT Tropang Giga coach Chot Reyes and Barangay Ginebra mentor Tim Cone are set to clash once again in the PBA Finals, marking their eighth meeting in a championship series since the 1990s. While they share mutual respect and a long-standing friendship off the court, their battles in the PBA Finals have been nothing short of intense.
Reyes currently holds a slight edge in their head-to-head finals matchups, thanks to TNT’s 4-2 victory over Ginebra in the Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals last November. According to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon, their championship duels have seen alternating winners, highlighting the competitiveness of their rivalry.
A History of Championship Clashes
Their finals encounters date back to the 1994 Commissioner’s Cup when Reyes secured his first title in the rivalry with Purefoods. Over the years, he added more wins in the 2002 All-Filipino Cup with Coca-Cola, the 2009 Philippine Cup with TNT, and their most recent battle in 2023.
Cone, on the other hand, has had his share of victories, starting with the 1996 All-Filipino Conference while coaching Alaska. He followed it up with titles in the 2003 Invitational, also with Alaska, and the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup while leading B-Meg (now Magnolia).
Coaching Masterminds: Strategy vs. Execution
Both coaches acknowledge that their familiarity with each other will play a role in the upcoming best-of-seven series, which kicks off on Friday. However, they emphasize that the true deciding factor will be the players’ execution on the court.
Cone, who once had Reyes as an assistant coach during their time at Alaska and later served under Reyes for Gilas Pilipinas, recognizes the depth of their knowledge about each other’s strategies.
“We’ve been at each other for quite a while. We’ve coached against each other, we’ve coached with each other. Obviously, the familiarity is there,” said Cone. “He knows me inside and out, and it’s just going to come down to execution. You can know whatever you want to know, but if the team executes well, you can still battle through that. So that’s what it’s going to come down to for us—just our execution.”
Reyes echoed Cone’s thoughts, reinforcing the idea that, despite their tactical adjustments, it will ultimately be the players who determine the series’ outcome.
“I agree with what Tim said, but more than the familiarity and more than the two of us as coaches, it’s really the players who are going to decide the series,” Reyes stated. “We could make our adjustments here and there, but after a while, it’s really going to come down to who’s able to get it done on the floor.”
A Finals Series for the Ages
With two of the PBA’s greatest coaching minds going head-to-head again, fans can expect an exciting series filled with strategic battles and high-level basketball. The stage is set for another thrilling championship showdown where execution and on-court performance will be the ultimate deciders.
As history has shown, when Cone and Reyes meet in the finals, the series is always unpredictable and fiercely contested. Basketball fans are in for a treat as these two masterminds lead their squads into another epic battle for PBA glory.