"It doesn’t bother me to lose leads, because I know it’s part of the game," Cone maintained. "It’s not something I have sleepless nights over because (in) 21 years (of coaching) I’ve blown a lot of leads, I’ve seen us come back and a lot of teams also."

There must have been a deeper sense of satisfaction for Cone, however, since his Aces blew a 26-point lead and still came out a 95-94 winner over Ginebra before a big weekend crowd last Sunday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Astrodome.

The win, its second straight in as many starts, is doubly sweet for Alaska. It not only gave it a share of the early lead with Rain or Shine but also came at the expense of the same Ginebra team that dealt the Aces a numbing defeat in their Philippine Cup quarterfinals series.

In that duel, the Kings completed their rise from a 0-1 deficit by coming back from an early 20-point deficit in the rubber match last Christmas and went on to wrap it up in three games.

LA Tenorio prevented no such repeat collapse by burying a three-point shot in the final four seconds and sealing it with a steal off Ginebra import Nate Brumfield just before the final buzzer.

Tenorio’s heroics gave Cone an easier time explaining his team’s escape.

"People from the outside don’t understand how you lose leads like that in a basketball game. But usually leads, especially early in the game, are artificial," he stated.

"And especially against Ginebra. One of the reasons they’re a never-say-die team is because they always have that crowd behind (them), pushing, pushing, pushing no matter what happens. So it’s very hard to hold a lead against a team like Ginebra. But it’s very hard to hold a lead against any team in the PBA."

"Watching the NBA, as long as I’ve been watching the NBA, I remember… Tex Winters said leads in the NBA are never safe. Same thing in the PBA, leads are never safe, with the three-point shot, and the crowds, and the talent-level of teams."

The defeat dropped Ginebra to an even 1-1 win-loss slate, but came only after the Kings battled back from a 19-45 second quarter deficit and even took a 94-92 lead in the last 11 seconds off a Willie Miller twinner.

Cone said it was to be expected of the Kings to never give up, making him go into the game with some trepidation.

"I told the guys today, and I’m not pooh-poohing the other teams, but we have a stretch of really five hard games, and this one here is probably going to be the hardest," said Cone, whose Aces next tackle Smart-Gilas, San Miguel Beer, B-Meg Derby Ace and Talk N Text in that order.

Noli Cortez, Business Insight