CAN a combination of young guns and battle-scarred veterans hack it for Gilas Pilipinas? Nationals coach Tim Cone hopes so.
“We wanted to get some youth because with youth we felt we can develop and grow as a team, but we also felt we needed to get veterans because veterans are ‘win now’ type of players,” Cone said yesterday. “So, we wanted to get a mix of both, because we wanna win now and we still wanna develop. We didn’t want to get a bunch of college players and wait five years before they will be good and play.
“On the other hand, we didn’t want to get all veterans and after two years we don’t have a team anymore. The idea is we want to build a team and develop over time,” he added.
Cone spoke as the 50-day countdown before the Filipino cagers kick off their bid in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Latvia from July 2 to 7 got going.
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee leads Cone’s line-up, along with reigning seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and former winner Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, Kai Sotto, and Kevin Quiambao, and alternates Japeth Aguilar and Mason Amos.
Defense will also play a big role in the Philippine five’s campaign against world No. 8 Latvia and 23rd-ranked Georgia.
“No. 2, I’m a defensive coach first. I’m kinda well known for my triangle (offense) but really, I’m a defensive coach,” Cone said. “One of the reasons why I run the triangle is because it creates a tempo in which you can be defensive-minded or have a defensive tempo.
“It helps us along so for me when I look at the guys, we’re gonna select–we’re gonna select two-way guys that are gonna do it on the defense and offensive ends.
With 6-foot-7 forward Jamie Malonzo out for the OQT due to a recent calf injury operation, Cone is looking to tap either Aguilar or Amos as replacement.
“We’re hoping that Japeth will join us as the 12th man. We played without AJ Edu, we played without June Mar (Fajardo) the last time,” Cone said. “So, what’s nice about Japeth is he knows our system really well and he could teach other players.”
But Aguilar has yet to say yes, according to Cone.
“We’re going to move Japeth again. We hope. We haven’t gotten confirmation from Japeth yet that he will join us,” he said. “He has got two little babies at home, so it’s tough for him to get out. I’m not sure yet, but if he comes in, we will have that guy who knows what we do.
