Cone on Juan Gomez de Liaño: 'Looked like the best player in the league'

Ginebra coach Tim Cone heaped praise on Converge guard Juan Gomez de Liaño, though he was not happy with the latter deciding to take the last layup when the game was already decided Friday night, Nov. 14.

 Behind Gomez de Liaño’s brilliance, the FiberXers hammered out a 106-96 win over Cone's Gin Kings in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“De Liaño looked like the best player in the league tonight. Greatly complemented by the two bigs (Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar),” said Cone.

[RELATED STORY: Delta Pineda on Juan GDL's late layup in Converge win vs Ginebra: 'I gave the go signal']

 The second overall pick in the Season 50 Draft looked comfortable on the court, doing everything with ease on his way to a career-high 32 points.

 Gomez de Liaño also had six rebounds and six assists for Converge.

 “They deserved this win. They’re a good team. They’re going to be a team to reckon with all the way through this conference,” said Cone.

[WATCH: PBA LIVESTREAM: Ginebra Gin Kings vs Converge FiberXers | Season 50 Philippine Cup]

 Now Cone and the Gin Kings need to find a way to turn things around after falling to a 2-4 hole in the All-Filipino conference.

 “We just didn’t play sharp enough tonight. We’ve been off for a long time because of the typhoon which took away that game we had worked for. We just came out; we weren’t very sharp tonight,” said Cone.

 Before taking a lengthy break as the league gives way for Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers’ campaign, Ginebra will clash with Phoenix next on at the same Cubao venue Sunday, Nov. 16.

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 Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.

 He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.