The Rotary Club Manila honored Gilas Pilipinas as its Athlete of the Year last Thursday, 13 June 2024 at the 42nd Weekly Membership Meeting of the Rotary Club of Manila at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City.

Gilas received recognition from the Rotary Club after winning the gold medal in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China and ending a 61-year drought in men’s basketball.

Head coach Tim Cone, who was also the guest of honor during the meeting, received the award on behalf of the team.

Getting to the pinnacle of the Asian Games was impressive and what made it sweeter for Gilas was the fact Cone pulled it off with a rag-tag squad as players from the Japan B.League and the Korean Basketball League weren’t available due to their contracts with their respective teams.

Outburst in the dugout

Cone, the most successful Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) coach with 25 championships, recalled how his outburst in the dugout after the team’s 62-87 loss to Jordan, bannered by TNT Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, in the elimination round became a catalyst in the Philippines’ title run in the recent Asiad.

“I remembered when I walked into the locker room, I didn’t see the team because I was so angry. When you play for your country, you have to play at your highest character level and you cannot lower your character level,” said Cone, who also plucked a bronze medal in 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.

“When I heard that laughter, I got angrier. So I stormed out of the room and I just started going ballistic on everybody. I couldn’t pick up the table so I was mad so I threw all the food. It got on top of the shoes of the big wigs.”

“I think that set the tone for the tournament right there.”

The Philippines locked in since that loss as it dismantled Qatar, 80-41, in the qualification round before escaping Iran, 84-83, in the quarterfinal.

Gold medal match

Against China and its loud home crowd, Gilas pulled off another upset as its 77-76 win silenced the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre to get to the gold medal match for the first time in 33 years.

Facing the Jordanians once again for all the marbles, the Philippines looked calm and collected en route to a 70-60 win for its fifth gold medal in the Asiad.

Now, Cone has another task ahead of him: Bringing back the Philippines to the Olympics when Gilas competes in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament from 2 to 7 July in Riga, Latvia.

To do that, Cone said he wants to focus on the process and he knows this is just the beginning as players such as Kai Sotto and De La Salle University start Kevin Quiambao will be the cornerstone of that core.

“The road is tough but it’s not impossible. It’s in our realm of possibility and our goal is to win the tournament but the process starts on 21 June,” Cone said.

“It’s a four-year program that we’re involved in right now. This is Day 1.”