Cone hirap magdesisyon

Kung para kay Barangay Ginebra San Miguel head coach Tim Cone lang, tiyak na makikita niya ang dalawang malalaking lalaki sa projected top overall pick na si Justine Baltazar o Kai Ballungay.

Ngunit ang pagpili sa ika-10 sa Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft sa Linggo ay nangangahulugan na kailangan niyang maghanap ng iba pang magagamit na talento upang punan ang kanyang roster.

“We’re always coming to a draft looking for a big guy. But it doesn’t look like there’s anyone available in terms of just a pure big man outside of Justine,” saad ni Cone. “So, now we’ll turn our attention to the best available athlete who’s filling out a position. But we’re not going to really look at whether it’s big or small.”

Si Baltazar ay inaasahang mapipili bilang No. 1 overall ng Converge in the Draft na itatanghal sa Activity Center ng Glorietta sa Makati.

Sa kabilang banda, si Ballungay at Draft Combine Most Valuable Player Jonnel Policarpio ay maaari ding mapunta sa mga naunang pick, iniwan ang injury-hobbled Gin Kings na mag-scavenging para sa iba pang posibleng pagpipilian.

“We have No. 10 (pick), but we’ll see what happens. We have a couple of picks in the second round as well,” sabi ni Cone. “So, the problem is that you end up looking at… You’re watching these games, you’re watching Justine Baltazar, you’re watching (Kai) Ballungay, you’re watching these guys play, and they draw your attention. They draw your eyes. And we know we’re not going to get any of them. So, we have to have the discipline to not look at them and look at the other guys.”

Bukod sa isang malaking tao, si Cone, na kararating lang noong Miyerkules matapos ang Gilas Pilipinas ay kulang sa pagkuha ng puwesto sa Paris Summer Games sa Olympic Qualifying Tournament sa Riga, Latvia, ay naghahanap din ng point guard.

“There’s a good point guard available, and No. 10 we’ll go after him. So, we’ll just have to wait and see who drops to us. But it’s a good draft. I think there’s going to be a lot of plays, a lot of teams are going to be happy about their picks,” sabi ni Cone.