Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone breaks down why the guest team Eastern, who is undefeated in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup so far, is such a force to be reckoned with.
Hong Kong-based guest team Eastern is certainly starting hot in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup, racking up back-to-back wins against the Converge FiberXers and the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
Now, they aim to make it 3-0 against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Local teams have two things to address--if Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone has anything to say about it.
He explained why Eastern is undefeated so far.
"Number one, they're very good defensively. They help each other out. They've got decent size, and especially their bigs and their wings do a lot of switching," Cone said to One PH's Power & Play with Noli Eala. "They've got some really good defenders."
That's only number one.
"Plus, they move the ball. I don't think they're a team that overwhelms you with talent," he said. "They're obviously well-coached."
"Those are the two ingredients that make a really good team."
Many have likened Eastern to former Commissioner's Cup guest team Bay Area Dragons--and with good reason. After all, Kobey Lam, Hayden Blankley, and Glen Yang came from that now-defunct squad.
But they have maintained--no, they're not the same.
“It’s a very different team. Bay Area team was blessed with some mainland Chinese players that are all over 6-foot-6, some 7-footers,” Blankley said.
“We’re purely a Hong Kong team with some additional power," added coach Mensur Bajramovic.
[ALSO READ: Eastern not Bay Area 2.0, says coach Mensur Bajramovic]
The team is coming from a game in the Hong Kong A1 Division Championship and is playing in the East Asia Super League as well.
The last time the Bay Area Dragons played in the PBA, they went all the way to the finals and battled Ginebra in a best-of-seven series in the Philippine Arena.
Does Cone think it will happen again?
"I'm always hoping," he said.
Barangay Ginebra may have Justin Brownlee back as import, but they're also quite different now--with RJ Abarrientos and Stephen Holt instead of Stanley Pringle and Christian Standhardinger.
Plus, they have Troy Rosario now too, who's been training with coach Olsen Racela to learn Cone's system.
[ALSO READ: Troy Rosario part of Ginebra's lineup for PBA Commissioner's Cup]
"He's multi-skilled and it's gonna be fun."
Eastern takes on Rain or Shine this Wednesday, December 4.
Meanwhile, Ginebra will play its first game on December 11 against the NLEX Road Warriors.