FORGET the prolific scorers.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone intends to field a formidable defensive squad in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
“I know you look at Scottie Thompson or Chris Newsome, you know they’re not the most prolific scorers in the league, but they are great defenders and we wanted that defense in the point guard to be at the point of our defense,” Cone said. “We wanted that and that was a really big priority for us. So, that was why we picked those guys as opposed to picking other guys that would”‚, you know, put up 30 points or 28 points or whatever here or there.
“So, that’s just an example of the mindset that we went through in terms of picking these players,” he added.
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee leads Cone’s team for the OQT from July 2 to 7 in Latvia.
The likes of 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto, reigning seven-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, and Kevin Quiambao, and alternates Japeth Aguilar and Mason Amos complete the Philippine five.
Thompson, a former MVP, and Newsome are expected to provide the needed defensive teeth.
With 6-foot-7 forward Jamie Malonzo out for the OQT due to a recent calf injury operation, Cone is set to name either Aguilar or Amos as replacement.
Cone also liked the commitment of the players he and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas tapped.
“The beauty of it is that we picked 12, we asked 12 and all 12 said yes so, we didn’t have to go to our 13th pick and so on. . . and bring them into the 12,” Cone said.
“The 12 we asked for they fell over each other trying to get onto this team. So, they’re excited to be here.”
Gilas, ranked 37th, must finish in the top two of its group that includes Georgia and Latvia to reach the crossover semifinals against the top two of Group B, which includes No. 12 Brazil, No. 17 Montenegro, and No. 67 Cameroon.
The winners of the crossover semis will duke it out for the lone slot in the Olympics set for July in the French capital.
The group phase should be a stern test for the Nationals, according to Cone.
“The Europeans take the World Cup very seriously and (Kristaps, Boston Celtics star) Porzingis was there on the Georgia team, he just didn’t play. He sat behind the bench all time. He flew all the way to Manila just to watch his team play so that’s their commitment to the World Cup.
“So, I think we’ll see Latvia full-blown like we saw at the World Cup. We will see the Georgia team, Brazil also. I mean they may have a couple of young players that are coming up.”
