Cone sees pandemic as enough thinking time for Slaughter to comeback

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

After Greg Slaughter decided to take a break from the PBA, Tim Cone hopes that the league’s temporary suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be enough time for him to make up his mind and come back to Ginebra.

Slaughter announced he was going on a hiatus from the league after his contract with GSM expired last January, following it up with a lengthy post on his Instagram account.

In his IG post, Slaughter explained why he took a break from the PBA, stating that he aims to improve himself as a person, and leaving the game is one factor that he needs.

Coach Cone, Ginebra’s head tactician, then said that he hopes the big man already made up his mind because this is the perfect time for them to roll as a team.

With Stanley Pringle and Japeth Aguilar’s maturity, Cone said that this is the Ginebra team he is envisioning that can fight for the championship every conference.

“There’s such a maturation process on our team especially in terms of Japeth Aguilar. And Stanley changes the way we play and we made a natural progression forward. And that gives us an opportunity to compete for the All-Filipino every year,” Cone explained.

Also, with June Mar Fajardo out due to a severe injury, Cone said that Slaughter’s presence underneath will make them a more formidable squad with Fajardo out of commission.

“And hopefully we (PBA) come back before June Mar becomes healthy, to give us all a chance,” Cone said with a smirk.