MANILA – While coach Tim Cone knows pretty well that Justine Baltazar or Kai Ballungay will not reach the 10th pick of the PBA Draft, the multi-decorated tactician is hopeful that they could still land a good athlete, perhaps at the point guard position in the talent-rich pool.

Cone, who just arrived from an electrifying campaign at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where he supervised Gilas Pilipinas to a triumph over World No. 6 Latvia, attended the PBA Draft Combine Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City to check out the young guns suitable for Ginebra.

He acknowledged that at the 10th pick, they won’t be selecting Baltazar or Ballungay.

“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,” Cone acknowledged.

“So we have to have the discipline to not look at them and look at the other guys. That’s who will really have an advantage. It’s not easy because those guys, those top of the draft picks, they’re going to catch your eye. You want to watch them. They’re fun to watch. But we’ll see,” he went on.

The PBA’s winningest coach said they might be looking for a big guy, but outside Baltazar, the projected number one overall pick, there isn’t any “pure big man,” according to Cone.

“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. 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. There’s a good point guard available, and number 10 will go after him.”

Cone also hailed the deep and “strong” projected first rounders of the Draft.

“It’s going to be a very strong first round, I think. The first round of the draft is going to be very strong. I think there’s going to be 12 players in that draft that can really impact the league. So we were just talking with Coach Olsen [Racela] about how this draft looks so much stronger than last year’s draft,” said Cone.

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