BRING ‘EM ON!: Cone wants to face best players in friendlies

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone likes the opportunity to test the team’s mettle against European powerhouse squads in a couple of friendly matches ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia next week.

The decorated mentor hopes Turkey and Poland will bring in their stars and top players for Gilas Pilipinas to get a feel of what they can expect in the OQT that will be held at the Arena Riga from 2 to 7 July.

In fact, Cone welcomes the possibility of Turkey fielding a handful of National Basketball Association (NBA) players in their friendly match a little past midnight on Friday (Manila time).

“I love it. Poland’s No. 15 in the world so they’re gonna give us a good feel and Turkey’s No. 24 but they’re much better if their NBA guys show up,” Cone said.

Gilas left Manila on Tuesday with an 11-man roster after failing to find a last-minute replacement for injured guard Scottie Thompson.

Gilas is wrapping up its buildup for the Paris Olympics qualifier where they will collide with host and world No. 6 Latvia and No. 23 Georgia in the group stage.

Cone expects a serious match as the Turkish and Polish sides are both gearing up for their respective tournaments.

Turkey preparing for the FIBA Eurobasket 2025 qualifiers while Poland is also shooting for a spot in the Summer Games in a separate OQT leg in Valencia, Spain.

“Poland’s preparing for the OQT in Valencia. Turkey is just preparing for the Euro qualifiers. So, they may have the full team there. It should be a great indication by the time we get to Riga,” Cone said.

NBA players Cedi Osman of the San Antonio Spurs, Furkan Korkmaz of the Philadelphia 76ers, Alperen Şengün of the Houston Rockets, Onuralp Bitim of the Chicago Bulls and Ömer Yurtseven of the Utah Jazz are potential training partners for Gilas should they suit up for the Turkish team.

Osman, one of the veterans of the squad, averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assist in 72 games for the Spurs and played alongside rising star Victor Wembanyama of France.

Turkey is also parading Fenerbahce center Sertac Sanli and Tarik Biberovic as well as Anadolu Efes guard Ercan Osmani.

Gilas will take on Poland on 30 July.

Cone is using the friendlies to gauge where Gilas’ level of competitiveness is at.

These games will also give Cone an idea of what would be the most effective strategy for Gilas against a much taller and more athletic Europeans.

“We’re just trying to get our game right. We don’t care if we win or we lose, or we’re not going to go out, scout them or worry about them (Turkey and Poland). We just want to get our game right for Latvia and Georgia,” he said.

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee underscored the importance of Gilas not getting too intimidated with the world rankings of their opponents. What is important is for them to focus on ending a 52-year absence in the Olympics.

“No matter if they’re ranked higher than us, they put on their shoes like we put on our shoes and we’ll come in to represent the country in the right way, in the best way we can,” Brownlee said.

“It’s going to be tough, really tough for us but that’s why we’re here. We’re going to play against the best in the world and of course, if you want to be Olympians and qualify, you have to play with the best in the world.”

The Pinoy cagers face Latvia on 3 July before crossing paths with Georgia the following day.

The top two teams after the preliminary round will advance into the knockout semifinals against the top two in Group B composed of Brazil, Cameroon and Montenegro.