INTERIM coach Tim Cone was on the dot.
Thailand proved to be a better team than Bahrain, giving Gilas fits until the Philippine five got its act together just in time yesterday.
Leaning on a decisive fourth quarter breakaway, Gilas tripped hot-shooting Thailand 87-72 for its second straight win in Group C of the cage tourney of the 19th Asian Games at the at the Zhejiang University Zijingang Gymnasium in Hangzhou.
Justin Brownlee shot just eight of 27 from the field but still wound up with 22 points, to go with 15 rebounds and five assists for the Nationals, while CJ Perez provided ample help with 16 markers, seven boards, and four dimes.
June Mar Fajardo also had nine points and six rebounds as Gilas scored a big follow up to an 89-61 ripping of Bahrain three days back and rose to 2-0 in the group stage of the quadrennial showpiece event.
The Thais dropped to 0-2, counting a 63-97 thrashing at the hands of Jordan also last Tuesday.
Whether it’s a runaway win or a hard-earned triumph doesn’t matter for Cone as long as they complete their mission of reaching the Promised Land of the Asiad for the first time since 1962.
“We’re not here for pogi points. We’re not here to try and win by 50 and impress everybody,” Cone said. “No, we’re a team that came together quickly and our expectations are to win each game by one point.
“That’s it. If we win a game by one point, that’s all we care about and it felt like a one-point win today,” he added.
The Filipino cagers trailed early on 12-22 but charged back to grab a 41-35 lead at the break.
Gilas was still in control 64-47 heading into the final stanza before the gritty Thais led by Tyler Lamb and Frederick Lish whittled the deficit and pulled to within 63-68 with 6:24 to go.
But Gilas used a telling 7-2 binge late in the fourth canto on a Brownlee putback and a Japeth Aguilar tip that finally took the fight out of Thailand.
More importantly, the victory will serve Gilas in good stead ahead of its highly anticipated duel with Jordan tomorrow, Saturday, at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center for an outright slot in the quarterfinals.
The Jordanians, bannered by PBA best import winner Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, whipped Bahrain 84-60 and stayed unbeaten as well.
Lamb turned in a game-high 29 points, to go with two caroms, for Thailand, while Lish got 22.
