CONE SHAPES TRIANGLE: Old-school system brings Gilas to new heights

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone relied on a familiar strategy that brought an underdog Asian squad to an unfamiliar territory.

The decorated tactician unleashed his signature triangle offense against the shocked host world No. 6 Latvia to pull off an 89-80 upset in Gilas’ perfect start in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament early Thursday (Philippine time) in front of a stunned home crowd at the Arena Riga.

An 8-0 start set the tone for the unexpected one-sided affair — where Gilas even went up by 26 points in the third period — that drew the Philippines closer to the Paris Olympics after a 52-year absence.

All thanks to the system popularized by coach Phil Jackson with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and Kobe Bryant-bannered Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA) but rarely seen in international basketball.

“I guess I’m still a dinosaur at heart. You know playing the triangle,” Cone said after the colossal victory that brought delight to the sleep-deprived Filipino fans back home watching in the wee hours of the morning.

“I have been playing the triangle for 30-plus years. I was mentored by Tex Winter of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, he was the assistant to Phil Jackson. I just enjoy living on his legacy. Keeping it going,” added Cone, who won the majority of his 25 Philippine Basketball Association titles using the triangle with Alaska, Magnolia and now Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

“But it’s an offense I believe in.”

Gilas’ victory has put the team in a good position to advancing into the crossover semifinals.

The 37th ranked Gilas is playing Georgia as of press time.

It was the Philippines’ first conquest against a European side since beating Spain, 84-82, since the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Gilas went off to a scorching start, taking a 32-16 lead in the opening period punctuated by a buzzer-beater triple by CJ Perez in a game that many thought would easily go Latvia’s way despite missing the services of NBA champion center Kristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics.

The Filipinos looked poised to cruise to victory after the first three quarters but had to hang tough in what turned into a long fourth period when the Latvians slowly chipped away their deficit.

Just when Latvia cut the lead to, 81-71, naturalized player Justin Brownlee came to the rescue for Gilas as he hit a crucial four-point play with 3:29 left to make it a 14-point lead.

The Latvians threatened again, 85-77, when Rihards Lomazs scored on a jumper but Chris Newsome sank two freethrows with 1:23 left as Gilas held on for the win.

“It just turned out we got momentum and we really never lost it. There were a couple of stretches that we kind of lost our way a little bit but it just seemed like when Latvia’s just about to make a huge run at us they would miss an open three-point shot and that was just one of those nights for Latvia. They were just not hitting shots tonight,” Cone said.

Brownlee flirted with a triple-double of 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Center Kai Sotto had 18 markers, Dwight Ramos finished with 12 while June Mar Fajado and Newsome had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Uncommon

Latvia head coach Luca Banchi admitted that Cone’s go-to system caught last year’s FIBA World Cup fifth placer by surprise as it’s rarely used in European and international basketball.

“They have an efficient offensive system. It’s not simple and it’s not common. Let’s say not only in Europe but in general it’s not common to have a team run such system. It takes time,” he said.

“I know coach (Cone) has been long time sharing these basketball ideas around their country that affected their players’ style and that allowed the team to have a clear identity inside the court.”

It also didn’t help that the home team only had a little time to rest and recuperate after blowing our Georgia, 83-55, in the opener. They also had to rest guard Arturs Zagars after suffering an injury in the first game.

But it’s not just the triangle offense that frustrated the Latvians, Banchi added that Gilas’ defense and physicality got them out of their comfort zone.

“It’s better to talk also of their defensive system not only of their offensive system. I believe, defensively, their system and their size and their lineup typology closed the paint very well,” he said.

Latvia shot a terrible 27-of-72 from the field and was forced by Gilas’ choking inside defense to heave 42 three-point attempts with only 10 connecting.

“It cost us to shoot 42 three points and we made only 10. So, I would say that their decision to collapse in the lane was successful. Their size allowed them to control the rebound,” Banchi said.

Cone would also like to think that the triangle offense is the catalyst for defense.

“It’s an offense, if I may say, that plays at a tempo in which you can play defense. And that’s why I love it so much. I’m kind of famous for the triangle but I’m more of a defensive-oriented coach and that offense just helps me run the defense,” he said.

Heightened expectations

The odds of making it to the semis favor Gilas as they only need to win against the 23rd ranked Georgians.

A loss of 18 points or less will also give Gilas the pass to the next round along with Latvia.

Cone hopes the pressure of high expectations after taking down Latvia.

“Whenever you win a game the expectations go up. So then you have to keep chasing the expectations. Hopefully, we won’t feel that. Hopefully, we can get that communicated to our team that we can’t play to expectations. We have to play the way we can play,” he said.

“But as I said we’re not here to win just one game. We really wanna try and get to the finals and see what happens when we get to the finals. That’s really the goal,” Cone added.