PBA: ‘Referees got to be better,’ says Tim Cone after crucial foul call that ‘killed’ Ginebra’s chances vs SMB

MANILA — Ginebra head coach Tim Cone rued the crucial call that “killed” the Gin Kings’ chance of a late comeback against San Miguel in their PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinal game on Friday night.

Cone and the entire Ginebra side were arguing that San Miguel import George King, trying to bring down the ball from the backcourt with 20.7 seconds left on the fourth quarter clock, committed a traveling violation.

Instead, Scottie Thompson was called for a foul on King, sending the SMB import to the line as the latter got away with the 108-102 win in Game 4 to tie the best-of-5 series.

“It was really hard to turn that game back around. And then we do, and we get killed on that call,” said Cone.

“It just, I mean, it just shouldn’t have happened. Down the stretch like that, the referees got to be better.”

Ginebra had the upper hand in the first half, leading by as much as 17 points. The Beermen came back in the third quarter on a massive 22-0 run, turning the game around.

SMB scored a total of 46 that period, while holding off the Gin Kings to only 18.

“Forty-six points in the quarter, I honestly don’t remember any time in my career, I may be wrong, but we gave up 46 points in the quarter. That’s 35 years, 36 years of coaching,” said Cone.

The Gilas tactician though lauded the Beermen for their grit, returning into the match: “But they’re a great team. We knew they were going to come back and they came back a little harder than we thought.”