NATIONAL coach Tim Cone is taking the daunting task of steering Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers head-on.
“We deal with who we have and we’re not going to feel bad about it or regret it or even get excited about it. It’s a job ahead of us and we’ll do what we have to do to make it and the bottom line is, you got to finish in the top seven,” Cone said. “So, we got five others basically in our margin, maybe nine or ten teams that are going to really compete for those seven (slots) and we just gotta be in the top seven of those ten and that’s the job.
“It’s not necessarily about beating Australia or beating New Zealand or beating Guam. It’s about getting in and qualifying. So, however it may take us to do that, we’re going to fight really hard to do that,” he added.
Cone spoke for the first time since the draw for the qualifiers last week, where the Philippines was pooled with powerhouse teams Australia and New Zealand in Group A.
The Aussies are ranked No. 7 in the world while the Tall Blacks are No. 22, with Gilas sitting at No. 34 in the FIBA rankings.
Completing the pool is Guam, which has San Miguel Beer guard Jericho Cruz on its roster for the first window of the qualifiers set in November.
But those hardly bothered the PBA’s winningest tactician with two coveted grand slam wins.
“It’s like we don’t care if we finish one, two, or three or four in the eliminations in the PBA, nobody remembers that,” Cone said. “Everybody remembers whether you won the championship or not.
“So, right now, for us, to qualify is the championship. So, that’s what we’re going to focus on. We’ll put that as our big-time goal and then we’ll forget it and then come out and try to do the day-to-day when we get together.”
Six rounds comprise the home-and-away meet, where the top three squads in each group advance to the second round, where teams in Groups A and C will be clustered and ditto with those in Groups B and D.
Records in the opening window will be carried over to the next phase.
The top three teams in each group, along with the fourth-best placed side and host Qatar, will represent Asia-Oceania in the prestigious cage extravaganza in the rich Middle Eastern city of Doha in Qatar in 2027.
Playing in the “Group of Death” six months from now did not surprise Cone.
“I thought it might be that way. I mean, it was a really good chance. It was basically 50-50, but again, I really, I didn’t stay up to find out,” he said. “What happens, happens. It’s not like I was trying to win a lottery and see if I can win the lottery.”
