The Stands - An INQUIRER Sports Newsletter

 

March 8, 2024

Tim Cone speaks to the Inquirer Sports Staff.  (MARLO CUETO)

Hey there sports fan, Last Monday, the Inquirer Sports Staff hosted a testimonial dinner for Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who is also the head coach of Gilas Pilipinas. Inside the posh Casa Buenas at Resort Drive in Pasay City, Cone spent a lot of time talking about his coaching career and the childhood he had growing up here in the Philippines (the guy is a certified probinsyano, settling first in Baler). He flew here when he was eight and in one of the legs of his journey from the United States (the flight from Waikiki to Manila), the jet had to return to the airport because one of its engines caught fire. "You looked out the window and because the plane was tossing out gasoline, you could see these fireballs coming out of the engine," he recalled.  It would have been a distressing experience for anyone on that flight. But for an eight-year-old kid who got to witness an emergency landing at runway filled with screaming firetrucks, "it was quite an adventure." Cone hopped from one province to another, flying back to the States only for college. After five years in the US, he "flew back home." Home, being the Philippines, where he still lived outside Manila for a while until work brought him back to the Big City.  If you are a Filipino under the age of 50, Tim Cone has lived in the country longer than you have. The Inquirer awarded Cone with the Best Performance by a Coach trophy. The Guyito, the Inquirer Sports Awards trophy's nickname, was for his coaching stint in the Asian Games men's basketball championship last year, where the Philippines won its first gold in over six decades. Cone also received the Best Performance by a Team trophy in behalf of Gilas Pilipinas and talked about the team in depth, including its immediate future. Do you know in what country Gilas Pilipinas will play next? Clue: The country will be hosting an Olympic-qualifying tournament. The answer at the end of this email. We'll have more on the Inquirer Sports Awards and Tim Cone next week.

Capital1 celebrates its breakthrough victory.  (AUGUST DELA CRUZ)

Meanwhile... Volleyball continues to dominate the sporting conversation nowadays, what with the PVL All-Filipino Conference and the UAAP volleyball tournaments in full swing.  Here are a few stories we feel you should read: You get a sense that La Salle isn't going to be contented until it gets a chance to get back at UST. The Lady Spikers have been using that defeat to the Tigresses to fuel their current run. National U continues to look for its identity in the UAAP. Another name comes out of UST's bench mob.  And Capital1 finally barges into the win column, but coach Roger Gorayeb says for now, winning isn't the only goal.  What we're up to next: We will announce the winners of the Inquirer Sports Awards soon, along with features on Tim Cone. More volleyball coverage, too, as the PVL All-FIlipino and the UAAP tournaments chug along. Blackwater is currently on a hot start in the PBA Philippine Cup and we will be on ground to see how long that run lasts.  Number of the Week: 34 Number of years Tim Cone has been coaching in the PBA.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “[W]e need to be one-point warriors so we fought for every point.” —Xyza Gula, on UST's philosophy that has allowed the team to fight back from deep deficits..

The answer to our trivia question? Latvia. If you think you can ace our weekly Friday sports quiz, and if you want more sports updates, join our Viber community.  Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. See you next Friday! Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).