Sa halip na pagbigyan ang kagustuhan ng kanilang mga fans at supporter para mapagsama ang dalawang pinakamahuhusay na guard sa NCAA na sina Scottie Thompson at Jiovani Jalalon sa Barangay Ginebra, mas gusto ni coach Tim Cone na kumuha ng isang manlalaro na angkop sa kanilang koponan.

Kaya naman hindi nag-atubili si Cone na gawing third overall pick sa nakaraang Annual PBA Rookie Draft ang Gilas Cadet na si Kevin Ferrer.

Naniniwala si Cone na magiging overloaded sa guard position ang Kings kung kinuha pa niya si Jalalon.

“What do we do with [Jalalon]? What do we do when we play him with LA (Tenorio), Scottie, and Jayjay (Helterbrand)?’ We’re just overloaded,” ani Cone.

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Ang kagustuhang mapagsama sina Jalalon at Thompson ay para na rin sa panimula ng paghahanda sa napipintong pagreretiro ng tinaguriang “Fast and Furios” tandem ng Kings na sina Mark Caguioa at Jayjay Helterbrand.

“From a coaching standpoint, in terms of chemistry, you don’t want to overload the talent in one position. Then it becomes a competition between great players and you end up sitting your great players on the bench instead of having them on the floor,” ayon kay Cone.

Hindi isinasantabi ni Cone ang kakayahan ni Jalalon, ngunit magigig unfair naman aniya para sa manlalaro kung kukunin niya ito at hindi mabibigyan ng sapat na exposure dahil sa puno ang posisyon ng guards na nakahanay sina Thompson, LA Tenorio, Sol Mercado, Caguiao at Helterbrand.

“Our fear when getting someone like Jalalon was he would have to share time with LA and Scottie and they all share time, and you got great players sitting on the bench and you don’t want to have that.”

Hindi naman itinago ni Cone ang kasiyahan sa pagkakataong nakuha nila ang serbisyo ni Ferrer.

“I made it clear that that’s the guy we’re looking for. But I wasn’t sure we were going to get him, so when they called back to say we got him, I was very happy,” ani Cone. (Marivic Awitan)