TIM Cone shifted his focus to Barangay Ginebra on Thursday when he made an appearance in the PBA Draft Combine at the Ynares Sports Arena, just a day after arriving in Manila fresh off his Gilas Pilipinas duties in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

After getting a closer look at the aspirants, Cone sees a quality PBA Season 49 Draft, expecting the first-rounders to play a big role for the teams they would be playing for.

“It’s going to be a very strong first round, I think,” said Cone. “I think there’s going to be 12 players in the draft that will really impact the league.”

“We were just talking about it with coach Olsen [Racela], about how this draft looks so much stronger than last year’s draft. Watching the players play, we’ve got some good depth.”

“We have No. 10, but we will see what happens in the second round. We have a couple of picks in the second round as well,” he added.

Cone didn’t get an opportunity to watch last year’s Draft Combine, as he was at the Gilas camp that was preparing for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

For this year though, he was able to witness the likes of Justine Baltazar, Kai Balunggay, and Jonnel Policarpio, all of whom have been impressive in the two-day combine that also featured scrimmages.

Cone said the challenge for Ginebra is to focus on the players whom they believe they have a shot at picking, instead of looking at the big names.

“The problem is you end up watching Justine Baltazar, watching Ballungay, you are watching these guys play, and they draw your attention and draw your eyes, but we know we are not going to get any of them,” he said.

“We have to have the discipline (to) not look at them, and look at the other guys. It’s not easy because those guys, those top-of-the-draft picks, really catch your eye and you want to watch them. They are fun to watch.”

Ginebra’s needs

The 25-time PBA champion coach said the Gin Kings are looking at a big man and a point guard, both of which they hope will still be available when it is their turn to pick.

Ginebra will most likely have a shorthanded lineup in the earlygoing of the PBA 49th Season with Jamie Malonzo expected to remain out due to a calf injury and Scottie Thompson still sidelined no thanks to a back injury.

“We always come into the draft looking for a big guy, but (it) doesn’t look like anyone will be available in terms of just a pure big man outside of Justine. Now, we turn our attention to the best available athlete, going out of position. But we are not going to really look at whether it’s big or small,” he said.

“(If) there’s a good point guard available at No. 10, we will go after him. Just got to wait and see who drops to us. But I think there’s going to be a lot of teams that are going to be happy with their picks.”

Ginebra will also pick at No. 17 and at No. 22, where Cone hopes to find a ‘diamond in the rough’ – just like they did with Ralph Cu at 23rd overall last year.

“That’s a little harder to find, the jewels, and it’s more than just seeing them here in the combine. You’ve got to do more research than that, see where they are coming from, in the college leagues, in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League), you have to go a lot deeper,” he said.

“The guys like [Dave] Ildefonso, [Sedrick] Barefield, guys who aren’t here, those guys are all locked to be in that first round. So really, we are looking more for the second round. We will take whoever drops to us in the first, and then we will look more for the second round at this point.”