Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone is refusing to make a big deal out of his loss to his former player and now Magnolia mentor LA Tenorio in their first meeting at the opposing sides of the bench.

The Kings dropped an 80-73 decision against a retooled Hotshots team that welcomed Tenorio during the offseason as their new coach.

But for the veteran mentor, the game was just like any other game – it was just that Ginebra played badly and was completely outclassed.

“I’m happy for LA, I’m sad for myself,” said Cone, who added that facing Tenorio was just the same as going up against current coaches who were also once part of his team.

“You guys are making a bigger deal out of it than either he or I. We’re friends. It’s the same thing when I played against Chot Reyes, Jeff Cariaso, or John Cardel, who else are out there? Willy Wilson. They’re all my ex-players and coaches. Luigi Trillo [too]. So it’s the same,“ said Cone.

So the veteran mentor wasn't sweating over the apparent loss to his long-time court general.

“It’s much bigger for LA than it was for me tonight. Put it that way. It was his first game, he’s gonna remember it. I’m gonna forget this one really quickly,” he said.

The bigger issue for Cone was his team's inability to play at par with their opponents.

Magnolia raced to a 10-0 start right off the gates and while Ginebra managed to keep within striking distance in the ensuing quarters, the Kings never really got into a groove enough to truly threaten the Hotshots

“Nothing positive tonight. I didn’t see anybody really play well tonight. Our first group has to pick it up. We can’t get off to a bad start like we did tonight. It all starts from our first group–you know, Scottie and the rest,” he said.