WITH Tim Cone, the PBA’s winningest coach now at the helm of Gilas Pilipinas, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipians President Al Panlilio is convinced the best is yet to come for the Philippine five.
“Ano bang version na ng Gilas ito? Hindi na namin mabilang. But we’re very happy Tim has accepted the offer to be the national head coach for this version of Gilas,” Panlilio said yesterday during the cage body’s send-off for the Nationals at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig. “He has a four-year vision, so we started the journey last week during their first practice.
“Nag-usap kami ni Tim over the holidays. There were a lot of discussions before he said “yes.” Really exciting times for Philippine basketball. We need to always get better,” he added.
The Philippine five leaves today for the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Gilas kicks off its bid on the road against Hong Kong this Thursday and will take on Chinese Taipei on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
The second round of the qualifiers is set for Nov. 21 and Nov. 24.
The SBP chief maintained they want other fronts to improve this year after a successful hosting of the FIBA World Cup and Gilas’ twin gold medal triumphs in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games and Hangzhou Asian Games.
“We had a good year last year. We hosted the World Cup, we reclaimed the SEA Games gold and won the Asian Games gold,” Panlilio said.
“As a federation we always want to improve not only on five-on-five but on the other disciplines–five-on-five men, five-on-five women, 3×3 men, women, and youth.”
The Filipino cagers will also face a daunting task to clinch a slot in the Paris Olympics in July.
The Philippines is bracketed with host and world No. 8 Latvia, and No. 23 Georgia in Group A in the Olympic qualifying tournament in July.
“Coach Tim’s journey this year will be two windows for the Asia Cup and the OQT in Latvia in July,” he said.
“Exciting times for the program. We’re looking forward to keeping these 12 players in the next four years.”
Cone has tapped the likes of naturalized star Justin Brownlee, reigning seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, former MVP Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez, Jamie Malonzo, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, Kai Sotto, and Kevin Quiambao will make up the roster for the opening round of the qualifiers.
Fajardo will miss the first window due to a calf injury he suffered during San Miguel Beer’s six-game title conquest of the season-opening tilt against Magnolia.
