No let up for Gilas

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone keeps his hopes high despite facing tough odds against European giants in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament in Riga, Latvia.

With little room for mistakes, the 11-man Filipino squad will have to play flawless basketball to get past world No. 6 Latvia and No. 23 Georgia in crucial matches with just 20 hours between games.

Gilas took on the Latvians early Thursday morning (Philippine time).

The Nationals march back to action at 8:30 p.m. on the same day (Philippine time).

Cone, the winningest Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tactician with 25 titles, reminded his wards about their mission.

“We’re not here to win a game. We’re here to win a whole tournament,” Cone said in a video released by One Sports.

The mentor added that although it would require a lot from his players to pull off an upset over Latvia, boasting a roster filled with National Basketball Association (NBA) veterans, stealing a victory is not impossible.

And if ever they fall short, Gilas still has a chance to advance to the next round if it brings down the Georgians.

“Losing (against Latvia) does not knock us out but if we allow that first one to affect us in the second, then we’re going to be knocked out,” he said.

Despite not having NBA champion Kristaps Porzingis, Latvia opened its campaign on a high note after an 83-55 rout of Georgia on Wednesday.

Arturs Strautins led the charge with 18 points while Mareks Mejeris added 11 points for the Latvians.

“We may lose to a bad referee call, trying to hit a three-point shot from the halfway line or they could get every shot even if we were in their faces,” Cone added.

“But that can’t affect us going into the game against Georgia. Be mindful of that, fellas.”

Gilas got a feel of the competition after a couple of tune-up games against world No. 24 Turkey and 15th ranked Poland, albeit losing both, before heading to Latvia.