Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach who is the head coach of

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.), a subsidia ...

in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA). He is the most accomplished coach in PBA history with twenty-four (24) titles, including two (2) Grand Slams, four (4) Coach of the Year awards, and the winningest coach of the league tallying more than one thousand (1000) games won. He is a proponent of the

triangle offense The triangle offense is an offensive strategy used in basketball. Its basic ideas were initially established by Hall of Fame coach Sam Barry at the University of Southern California. His system was further developed by former Houston Rockets and ...

Early life and education

Cone was born in the United States and grew up in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He moved to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

when he was nine years old after his father came to the country to work in the logging industry. Cone studied in a public elementary school in Baler,

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

and later moved to the

International School Manila International School Manila ( abbreviation: ISM) is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian international school located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1920 as the American School by a group of American and Br ...

. Cone returned to the United States when he was 18 years old to study at the

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and is located in Atherton, California. Campus Menlo College is situated on 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles nort ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

After graduating from college, Cone worked in a bank in San Francisco before returning to the Philippines at age 24.

Coaching career

Club

Alaska Milk (1989–2011)

In 1989, Cone took over as the coach of the Alaska Air Force with players such as the famed Bruise Brothers duo of

Yoyoy Villamin Elpidio "Yoyoy" Villamin (born November 7, 1958 in Labo, Camarines Norte, Philippines), is a retired Filipino professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. Standing 6'3" on a muscular frame, Villamin earned the monike ...

and Ricky Relosa, and

Abet Guidaben Alberto "Abet" Guidaben (born September 14, 1952) is a Filipino former professional basketball player in the PBA. He was part of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers ballclub that won two Grand Slams, in 1976 and 1983. He was a two-time PBA Most Va ...

. A year later, Cone led the Air Force to the finals of the 1990 PBA Third Conference. Alaska blew a 2–0 lead in the best-of-five series to suffer one of the biggest collapses in PBA history, losing to Purefoods in five games. Cone was barred from coaching in the 1991 PBA All-Filipino Conference due to a February 1990 case filed by the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines questioning the alien employment permit given to Cone by the Department of Labor and Employment. The group's complaints stemmed from Article 40 of the Labor Code that only allows the hiring of a foreigner only after determining that no Philippine resident is competent, able, and willing to perform services at the time of application. The

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...

ruled against General Milling Corporation, Cone's corporate employer, in April 1991. Cone was able to return to PBA coaching when he gained permanent resident status after his August 1991 marriage to Filipina girlfriend Cristina Viaplana. Cone and Alaska won their first championship by defeating

Ginebra San Miguel Ginebra San Miguel Inc. (GSMI, ) () (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.) is a Philippines-based diversified beverage company majority-owned by San Miguel Corporation (SMC). History La Tondeña was established in 1902 by Carlos Palanca, S ...

in the 1991 Third Conference. That team was led by

Jojo Lastimosa Isabelo "Jojo" Lastimosa Jr. (born March 10, 1964) is a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association for the Purefoods Hotdogs, the Alaska Aces and the Pop Cola Panthers from 1988 to 2002. He was als ...

, Eugene Quilban and Bong Alvarez. After several struggles, Cone's team would have a strong group of locals Lastimosa,

Johnny Abarrientos Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, bec ...

Bong Hawkins Rene "Bong" Hawkins Jr. (born November 6, 1967) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. He is the son of character actor Rene Hawkins, Sr. PBA career Presto & Sta.Lucia A power forward wit ...

Jeffrey Cariaso Jeffrey Joaquin Cariaso is a Filipino-American coach and retired professional basketball player. He is the former head coach of the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He also played for various PBA teams, mostly ...

and

Poch Juinio Edward "Poch" Juinio (born May 25, 1973) is a Filipino retired former professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. He played most of his seasons with Alaska Aces and won numerous championships. Professional career ...

, while having import

Sean Chambers Sean Chambers (born February 27, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player, best known for being a resident import of the Alaska Aces basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association from 1989–2001. Career Beginning ...

for the Milkmen. From 1994 to 1998, the Milkmen won eight titles in 14 conferences during the stretch. The highlight of that run, though, would come in the 1996 season when Alaska won the coveted PBA Grand Slam, becoming the third franchise and the fourth team to win a Grand Slam in the history of the league. While Alaska continued to dominate by adding

Kenneth Duremdes Kenneth Celera Duremdes (born January 31, 1974) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association and the current commissioner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). Nicknamed as "Captain ...

in 1997. Duremdes, playing a limited role with the Pop Cola franchise, rose up to the occasion in 1998 under Cone's tutelage, winning the PBA Most Valuable Player Award at 24 years of age. That year, Cone was hired as the coach of the

Philippine Centennial Team The 1998 Philippines men's national basketball team, nicknamed the "Philippine Centennial Team", competed in the 1998 Asian Games. The team consisted of professional players in the country that included national team veterans Allan Caidic and Al ...

led by Duremdes, Abarrientos, Lastimosa, three players on Cone's Alaska team, and PBA stars

Alvin Patrimonio Alvin Dale Vergara Patrimonio (born November 17, 1966) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player from the Philippine Basketball Association and is the current team manager for the Magnolia Hotshots. Patrimonio holds several PBA re ...

Marlou Aquino Marlou Bucao Aquino (born October 7, 1972) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and assistant coach for the Bacoor City Strikers of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). During his prime he was known by fans as "The S ...

Vergel Meneses Vergel Corpuz Meneses (born January 14, 1969) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player and a politician, serving as mayor of the municipality of Bulakan, Bulacan. He previously played in the Philippine Basketball Association and ser ...

and

Allan Caidic Allan Vito Flores Caidic (born June 15, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is considered by many to be the greatest shooter the country has ever produced, thus, earning the mon ...

. That team won a bronze medal in the 1998 Asian Games in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. Alaska won the 2000 All-Filipino Cup, but afterwards, the team faced rebuilding and traded away several remnants of the old Alaska. Cone, however, would lead the young team of

John Arigo John Hartley Ward Arigo (born December 10, 1978), in Charleston, South Carolina, is a Filipino-American retired professional basketball player having played for three teams in the Philippine Basketball Association over a nine-year career. He was ...

and

Ali Peek Albert Henry "Ali" Peek (born February 13, 1975) is a Filipino-American retired professional basketball player who played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). During his playing days, he played mostly at the center position, although he ...

to runner-up finishes in the 2002 Governors' and All-Filipino Cup. A year later, the Aces added UAAP star

Mike Cortez Mike Salonga Cortez (born November 10, 1980) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He last played for the Blackwater Elite of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Cortez gained prominence in the amateur ranks for ...

and

Brandon Cablay Brandon Lee Kaui Cablay (born March 1, 1978) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He started his career in the PBA in 2003 as a member of the Aces. He would win his first PBA championship in the 2003 PBA Invitational C ...

, leading Alaska to the 2003 PBA Invitational Cup championship, Cone's 11th title. On July 17, 2006, Manila Standard reported that after his 17 years of service Alaska is set to terminate Cone depending on a meeting between both parties after Cone's contract with the Aces expired on July 15. Rumors also speculated that his replacement will be his former assistant, former

National team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

mentor

Chot Reyes Vincent "Chot" P. Reyes (born August 1, 1963) is a Filipino basketball head coach for the TNT Tropang Giga for the Philippine Basketball Association. He is also the head coach of the Philippine national basketball team, where he led the team to a ...

, with Cone staying on as team consultant. However, a day later, the Aces' official website reported that Cone has agreed to a new deal to stay on as the team's head coach for the 2006–07 PBA season. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Purefoods (2011–2015)

On September 1, 2011, Alaska team owner Wilfred Uytengsu announced that it has "released Tim Cone as head coach of the Alaska Aces" after his 22 years of service for the Alaska Aces. Uytengsu remarked that Cone requested to be released a week earlier. Cone was quick to deny in a press conference that he is set to coach B-Meg Llamados, another PBA team. On September 14, 2011, Tim Cone was at the B-Meg Llamados practice that day and was introduced as the new head coach. He tapped former Alaska players

and

as assistant coaches. The two new assistant coaches were joined by current assistant coach

Koy Banal Enrico "Koy" Banal, is a Filipino professional basketball head coach. Coaching career Prior to his first PBA coaching job, Banal has had extensive head coaching experience in the collegiate and amateur ranks. He called the shots for the PSBA Ja ...

. On May 6, 2012, the Llamados won the 2012 PBA Commissioner's Cup championship 4–3 over defending champion

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Associat ...

. This was Cone's 14th title, and his first with B-Meg. On October 25, 2013, the Llamados, under Cone's tutelage, won the

PBA Governors Cup The PBA Governors' Cup is a tournament of the Philippine Basketball Association. Along with the PBA Commissioner's Cup, the tournament is one of the two conferences that allows teams to hire a single foreign player, also known as an "import". The ...

championship, after beating

Petron Blaze Boosters The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

. By winning the season-ending best-of-seven series 4–3, the former Purefoods ballclub won its second championship over the last five conferences and more importantly the 15th career title for Cone, putting the veteran coach in the company of the great

Baby Dalupan Virgilio "Baby" Adam Dalupan (October 19, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Filipino basketball coach and player. Dubbed "The Maestro", Dalupan was best known for his lengthy coaching tenure with the Crispa Redmanizers and garnered a career tot ...

at the top of the all-time list. On February 26, 2014, Cone won his 16th PBA title as he guided the Mixers to their 11th title against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. They beat the E-Painters in six games. With this win, he broke legendary

's record. On May 15, 2014, San Mig Coffee Mixers beat the Talk N' Text Tropang Texters in Game 4 of best-of-five series, where San Mig earned the chance to capture the rare Grand Slam. This championship gave Tim Cone his 17th PBA title. He clinched his 18th title, and again made history by being the first mentor to win two Grand Slams after he steered San Mig Coffee to become

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

Champions while accomplishing four straight championships and grabbing the 2014 Governor's Cup title.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

PBA - Barangay Ginebra vs GlobalPort - Tim Cone-Ginebra - 2015-1227 (23896280502)

On July 20, 2015, San Miguel Corporation president

Ramon Ang Ramon See Ang (born January 14, 1954), also known by his initials RSA, is a Filipino businessman. He is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Top Frontier Investment Holdings, Inc., the largest shareholder of San Miguel Corporation. ...

confirmed the appointment of Cone as the new head coach of

. The reassignment of Cone will seek to end the curse of Ginebra which last won in the 2008 Fiesta Conference. On October 4, 2016, Cone led Brgy. Ginebra to its first Finals appearance since 2013. Ginebra defeated sister team San Miguel Beermen in a do or die Game 5, 117–92. Ginebra went on to face the

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of three ...

in the Finals and winning in six games (4–2), giving the team its first championship after 8 years of drought. Cone later led Ginebra to five more championships. On November 18, 2022, he recorded his 1000th win, the most wins for a PBA coach.

National team

Tim Cone has led the

Philippine men's national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

as its head coach. He guided the

to a bronze medal at the 1998 Asian Games. Prior to that, the national team under Cone's watch had a training camp in the U.S. and won the 1998 William Jones Cup. In September 2019, he was appointed head coach of the national team again for at least the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

following the resignation of Yeng Guiao following the Philippines poor performance in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Personal life

Tim Cone is married to Cristina Viaplana, a Filipino, since August 1991 after dating for seven years. Cone's daughter works in the United States as of 2019. He can also speak Filipino although he prefers to speak in English in press conferences.

List of PBA championships

24× PBA champion, 36× Finals appearances in Alaska Franchise (13): * 1991 Third Conference * 1994 Governors' * 1995 Governors' * 1996 All-Filipino * 1996 Commissioner's * 1996 Governors' * 1997 Governors' * 1998 All-Filipino * 1998 Commissioner's * 2000 All-Filipino * 2003 Invitational * 2007 Fiesta * 2010 Fiesta in Purefoods Franchise (5): * 2012 Commissioner's * 2013 Governors' * 2013–14 Philippine * 2014 Commissioner's * 2014 Governors' in

(6): * 2016 Governors' * 2017 Governors' * 2018 PBA Commissioner's * 2019 Governors' * 2020 Philippine * 2021 Governors'

PBA Head Coaching record

, - , align="left" , Alaska Aces , align="left" , 2009–10 , 62, , 39, , 23, , .629 , , align="center", Lost 2010 Philippine Cup Finals
Won 2010 Fiesta Conference Finals , - , align="left" , Alaska Aces , align="left" , 2010–11 , 42, , 22, , 20, , .524 , , align="center", Lost 2011 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals Round
Lost 2011 Commissioner's Cup Quarterfinals Round
Lost 2011 Governors' Cup Semifinals round , - , align="left" , B-Meg Llamados , align="left" , 2011–12 , 62, , 38, , 24, , .613 , , align="center", Lost 2012 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals Round
Won 2012 Commissioner's Cup Finals
Lost 2013 Governors' Cup Finals , - , align="left" ,

San Mig Super Coffee Mixers The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Inc., San Miguel Food and Bever ...

, align="left" , 2012–13 , 64, , 38, , 26, , .594 , , align="center", Lost 2013 Philippine Cup Semifinals Round
Lost 2013 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals Round
Won 2013 Governors' Cup Finals , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , 2013–14 , 71, , 41, , 30, , .577 , , align="center", Won 2014 Philippine Cup Finals
Won 2014 Commissioner's Cup Finals
Won 2014 Governors' Cup Finals , - , align="left" ,

Star Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migu ...

, align="left" , 2014–15 , 45, , 24, , 21, , .533 , , align="center", Lost 2015 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals round
Lost 2015 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals round
Lost 2015 Governors' Cup Semifinals round , - , align="left" , Barangay Ginebra , align="left" , 2015–16 , 49, , 31, , 18, , .633 , , align="center", Lost 2016 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals round
Lost 2016 Commissioner's Cup Quarterfinals round
Won 2016 Governors' Cup Finals , - , align="left" , Barangay Ginebra , align="left" , 2016–17 , 64, , 40, , 24, , .625 , , align="center", Lost 2017 Philippine Cup Finals
Lost 2017 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals round
Won 2017 Governors' Cup Finals , - , align="left" , Barangay Ginebra , align="left" , 2017–18 , 57, , 35, , 22, , .614 , , align="center", Lost in 2018 Philippine Cup Semifinals round
Won 2018 Commissioner's Cup Finals
Lost in 2018 Governor's Cup Semifinals round , - , align="left" , Barangay Ginebra , align="left" , 2018–19 , 52, , 33, , 19, , .635 , , align="center", Lost in 2019 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals round
Lost in 2019 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals round
Won 2019 Governors' Cup Finals , - , align="left" , Barangay Ginebra , align="left" , 2020 , 22, , 16, , 6, , .727 , , align="center", Won 2020 Philippine Cup Finals , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 590, , , 357, , , 233, , .6051, ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cone, Tim 1957 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Oregon Basketball players from Oregon George Washington University alumni Menlo Oaks men's basketball players Alaska Aces (PBA) coaches Philippine Basketball Association broadcasters Philippines men's national basketball team coaches People from Aurora (province) Magnolia Hotshots coaches Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coaches