EXCEPT their inner circle, no one perhaps believed Gilas Pilipinas could pull off a stunning upset of New Zealand last Thursday night in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
But National coach Tim Cone backed up his bold statements that his charges could bring down the Tall Blacks with a 93-89 decision that hiked their mark to 3-0 in Group B.
For all the successes the Philippine five has so far tasted under Cone—first Asian Games gold last year in Hangzhou, a shocking triumph over world No. 6 Latvia in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Riga last July—and this epic maiden victory over the 22nd-ranked Kiwis in FIBA history, Cone said they can only get better.
“We haven’t seen our best team yet and yet, we’ve been able to beat No. 6 (Latvia in the OQT) and No. 22, so we’re still trying to see exactly where we can go and how far we can go,” Cone said.
“I mean, that’s what we’re here for, right? Try to win these types of games,” he added.
The Filipino cagers battled Hong Kong at press time last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, with another win giving them a slot in the Asia Cup next year in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.a
Cone praised his players’ sacrifice to don the country’s tri-colors even if they don’t get paid hefty sums.
“I just love the commitment that Kai (Sotto) is showing, coming in every day early. These guys, I’ll be honest, they’re not making big money doing this. They’re coming here basically on… It’s not even big. It’s a small, little portion of the salaries they’re making in their home teams than what they are making here,” Cone said. “So, they’re coming in here with their hearts more than their pockets. They’re here, they’re giving it their all, going through two-a-day practices.
“Poor guy (Sotto) had to go through two-a-day practices coming off a concussion and still battling through it all, and everybody else is doing the same. My hat is really off to the players and what they are doing to get to this level and get to this point. I think we should all be proud of them.”
With their sights trained at a World Cup stint three years from now in Qatar and an Olympic berth in LA in 2028, Cone is convinced they can only get better.
“The OQT was fantastic, and I thought we could have done a lot better if this guy (Sotto) hadn’t gotten hurt,” he said. “That kind of put us behind the eight ball. Again, you can see the effect that Kai has on the game, and you can also see the effect that Scottie (Thompson) has on the game. We didn’t have Scottie in the OQT as well.
“We played Brazil—the No. 12 team in the world—without Kai, without Scottie, without AJ Edu, who will eventually impact us because of his defensive skills (that) really complement Kai and some of the things that he does.”