GILAS Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is convinced this iteration of the Philippine five has what it takes to scale new heights.
“It’s exciting times for Gilas right now and that’s why we’re hoping we can keep this group together and keep moving forward,” Cone said. “Justin Brownlee is actually a generational import. No one has ever seen an import like him, having a career like this for seven years.
“Sean Chambers, Billy Ray Bates maybe, but Justin certainly is a generational talent as an import and naturalized player playing with us as well,” he added.
Aside from having Brownlee at the forefront of the Filipino cagers’ charge, Cone is in awe of having a tall frontline of reigning seven-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto, Japeth Aguilar, and an injured AJ Edu–something that was lacking in national teams in the past.
“Just the way the players have evolved and got to this point right now where we have our three biggest players. We had Fil-Ams on our Gilas team, but our three biggest players were pure Filipinos–June Mar, Kai and Japeth,” Cone said.
A stunning upset victory over Latvia, the sixth-ranked squad in the world, in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament last month further bolstered Gilas’ edge in terms of ceiling.
“It’s amazing and when we beat Latvia, after the game, the coach came out. (Luca) Banchi, who is a famous European coach of the World Cup here in Manila, and won best Coach of the World Cup, he came out and said, ‘We couldn’t handle the Philippines’ size’.”
The Nationals will resume their bid in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Gilas will play a pair of home matches against New Zealand on Nov. 21 and Hong Kong three days later both at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
It’s certainly a luxury to have taller players now, according to Cone.
“How big we were, they said, they had a hard time handling our size,” he said. “I mean how many times have you heard that in the last 100 years in the Philippines and that again that’s what makes us exciting.”
After falling just two wins shy of a Paris Games berth after a surprise semifinals stint in Riga, Cone and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ vision remains the two big targets–a slot in the World Cup in Qatar in 2027 and in the Los Angeles Olympics four years from now.
Will they hit the bullseye? The country awaits.
