Gilas Pilipinas will remain intact as it heads for the FIBA Asia Cup that will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August of next year.

Gilas coach Tim Cone said he is not inclined to put in some new faces as he puts premium on continuity and stability, similar with the way he handles Barangay Ginebra in the Philippine Basketball Association.

“That’s something that we’re going to assess. I am less likely to want to increase the pool,” said Cone, shortly after posting a 93-54 rout of Hong Kong in the second window of the qualifiers late Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

A victory by New Zealand over Chinese Taipei on Monday will formalize Gilas’ entry to the prestigious continental meet.

“I think the more you increase the pool, the more teachings you have to do.”

So far, Gilas is running like a well-oiled machine.

The Filipinos opened their campaign in the qualifiers with a 64-94 win over Hong Kong and a 106-53 triumph over New Zealand in the first window last February.

Then, they successfully solved the New Zealand puzzle with a thrilling 93-89 victory last Thursday before posting a masterful 39-point massacre of Hong Kong.

Cone said his core is doing a tremendous job so tweaking it could be counter-productive.

“If you can keep a core going all the time and really focus on that core, keep it a tight group, the core is going to get better,” said the 25-time PBA champion mentor.

“If you start expanding the pool, you have to go back to zero and start teaching everything over again.”

“If you have 20 guys in, you have to teach 20 guys how to do things in a span of four or five days, and it gets really hard. It’s better if we tighten up.”