By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings head coach Tim Cone expects Negrense forward Joe Devance to contribute right away in their PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals series against the Meralco Bolts.

According to Cone, the Negros Occidental’s Escalante City native forward might still be a little out of shape, but he knows the Gin Kings’ triangle system very well.

“We put him through some workouts to check his conditioning, and although he’ll need some more build-up, we think he can contribute right away,” Cone said.

“Needless to say, we won’t need to teach him the system. He’ll be teaching it to someone else,” the winningest PBA mentor added.

Cone further said the 42-year-old Devance is an added warm body to their frontline rotation following injuries to Jamie Malonzo, Jeremiah Gray and George Isaac Go.

“We’ve been looking around for a big man ever since Isaac went down with his injury, and Joe’s sudden return to Manila was fortuitous,” Cone said.

The 6-foot-6 Devance made his basketball return almost two years after announcing his retirement./ASC, WDJ