WANTED: BEST ATHLETE: Cone faces tough decision ahead of Rookie Draft

If only Barangay Ginebra San Miguel head coach Tim Cone will have his way, he would definitely have his eyes on a couple of big men in projected top overall pick Justine Baltazar or Kai Ballungay.

But selecting 10th in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft on Sunday means he has to look for other available talents to fill his 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,” Cone said Thursday as he dropped by the two-day Draft Combine held at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.

“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.”

Baltazar is expected to be selected No. 1 overall by Converge in the Draft to be staged at the Activity Center of Glorietta in Makati.

On the other hand, Ballungay and Draft Combine Most Valuable Player Jonnel Policarpio could also land at earlier picks, leaving the injury-hobbled Gin Kings scavenging for other possible options.

“We have No. 10 (pick), but we’ll see what happens. We have a couple of picks in the second round as well,” Cone said.

“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.”

Aside from a big man, Cone, who just arrived last Wednesday after Gilas Pilipinas came short of securing a spot in the Paris Summer Games in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, is also on the lookout for a 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,” Cone said.

The 25-time PBA champion already have some names in mind but would rather keep it under wraps until Draft day.

“Well, if I tell you, I have to kill you,” Cone quipped.

“Those are easy to mention because I know we’re not going to get on them. So, the other guys, we got to keep them a little quiet. So, we’ll keep those under our hat.”

“There are 12 strong players in this draft. They’re going to follow somewhere, somewhere along the line in the first round. And maybe a couple of those guys will slip and go to the second round. And we’ll get some surprises in the first round. But there are 12 really good ones. That means we’re No. 10. We’re going to get one of them. So, like I said, whatever slips, we’ll get.”

Ginebra, which saw a painful exit in Game 7 of the Philippine Cup finals against eventual champion Meralco, will come into the import-laden season opener still missing a couple of players.

Jamie Malonzo will need more months to recover after going under the knife due to a calf injury while guard Scottie Thompson remains sidelined by a bad back that prevented him from joining Gilas in the Olympic qualifier.

“I don’t really know where Scottie is at this point. He was not good at all before we left for Inspire. He had taken a turn for the worse since the semifinals in the last conference. And just having trouble standing up and walking around,” he said.

“We don’t know where he is at this point. I’ll talk to him in the next couple of days and figure it out. He may miss some time. We’ll figure that out later. But Scottie’s Scottie. If he can possibly play, he’s going to figure out a way to play. But it’s kind of like we have to hold him back. We have to be the ones to say, ‘No, Scottie, you can’t.’ And if he’ll never admit that he can’t, he’s just got that kind of personality.”

The Kings are set to return to practice on 18 July with Jeremiah Gray expected to return to action after recovering from a knee injury.

Import and Gilas naturalized Justin Brownlee, on the other hand, will fly back to Manila after finishing his stint in Indonesia on 4 August.