Tim Cone is famous for his triangle offense. He tried to get away from it, but he still went back to it. Can't fix what ain't broke, right?
The triangle offense for Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is like true love. He just can't get away from it.
During the postgame press conference of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, a reporter brought up the "scrutiny and pushback" Cone faced for his offense. He was asked how satisfying it was for him to prove those critics wrong.
It just so happened that the world number 37 Philippines handily beat world number 6 Latvia, 89-80.
Cone chuckled.
"Well, I guess I'm still a dinosaur at heart," the 66-year-old tactician said. "I've been playing the triangle for 30 plus years. You know, I was mentored by Tex Winter of the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. Both, he was the assistant to Phil Jackson, and so I just enjoyed living on his legacy, bringing keeping it going."
It was an offense he believed in. But he acknowledged there was pushback. So he tried to step away from it.
"I left it for a couple of years, because I was like, 'everybody must be right', right? If everybody's saying it's a bad offense, they must be right," he mused. "I did as much as I could for two years without it."
But the triangle offense was like an old flame that would always be rekindled.
"I went back to it, and it's been my best friend ever since."
So Cone made it clear to Gilas Pilipinas that they would be running this system. He even drew in Barangay Ginebra veterans LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar to help teach the team.
"I told them, 'This is what I know best. This is what I can teach best, and so we're going to live and die with this," Cone recounted.
Using an old tactic has its perks--not many people now would be as familiar with it. But really, there's one reason why Cone can't get enough of it.
"So I'm enjoying running it, and I've always enjoyed running it, and I'm just proud that we're able to do something with it. It's an offense, if I may say, that plays at a tempo in which you can play defense, and that's why I love it so much," he said.
"I'm kind of famous for the triangle, but I really feel I'm more of a defensive oriented coach and offense, that offense just helps me run the defense."
When you're the winningest coach in the PBA with 25 titles, and you just led Gilas Pilipinas back to the top of the Asian Games, while making history by beating a European team in tha FIBA competition for the first time in 64 years... there must be some weight to it, right?