Cone sees shades of former player Peter Aguilar in son Japeth

By Ivan Saldajeno

BOCAUE--On a night when Japeth Aguilar torched the nets of the Philippine Arena with a rare perfect clip from beyond the arc, Coach Tim Cone was somehow taken back memory-wise to his early days as Alaska coach when he was mentoring a player with an identical style of play.

It turns out, the said player is also familiar to the Ginebra forward.

"I coached his dad, Peter, and Peter was the best shooting big man I've ever seen," said Cone during the post-game press conference of the Barangay's 86-79 Christmas Clasico win over the Star Hotshots.


It may not seem obvious as far as the older Aguilar's stats (4.2 points per game) and how his PBA career went (only five seasons during the early 90's that actually started with Ginebra) are concerned, but Cone still saw him as something special.

"[Japeth's] dad was lights out," Cone continued describing Peter Aguilar's game.

So when Japeth entered the PBA in 2009, Cone was quickly reminded of his dad.

"When I first saw Japeth, he looks exactly the same form [as his dad]. Japeth has the great form and ability to be that kind of player that can shoot shots like that," Cone compared the two Aguilars' shooting strokes.

Japeth lived up to his genes, dropping a career-high 32 points on 5-of-5 shooting from deep in the Yuletide win.

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