NATIONAL coach Tim Cone is raring to finally hit pay dirt against powerhouse Australia.
Gilas Pilipinas gets another shot at the mighty Boomers when they cross paths in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers next year. To exact a long-overdue payback, the Philippines needs one key player to be healthy—Kai Sotto.
“Hopefully, we get back the big missing piece for us—Kai Sotto, that makes us a little bit more competitive,” Cone said. “But at this point, it’s really too early to look and say, well, this is what we need at this point.
“We got to really digest this. We got to look at the video. We got to see what’s going on and go forward,” he added.
Cone spoke on the heels of his charges’ numbing 60-84 loss to the Aussies in their quarterfinal battle in the FIBA Asia Cup last week.
Two prestigious international tourneys are up next for the Philippine five before the end of the year—the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in December in Thailand, where Gilas tries to defend the cage crown—and the first window of the World Cup qualifiers.
The Filipino dribblers are bunched in Group A with Australia, New Zealand, and Guam.
Gilas will face a Guam side expected to be beefed up by San Miguel Beer veteran Jericho Cruz in the November window before it tangles in February next year against the Tall Blacks.
Cone’s squad then clashes with Australia in March.
The PBA’s winningest tactician admitted they simply had no answer to the Boomers—but they must figure out how to topple their mighty foes soon—with Sotto in tow.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but we’re not the only team this happens when you play Australia. We’re not the only team,” he said. “So, we’ll see and again, we’ve got them coming up again in the World Cup qualifiers.
“They’re in our bracket so we’ve got to figure out some things still ahead of us.”
