Daily Tribune‘Anytime you can get to the international arena and have success, that’s a huge feather in your cap.’
Justin Brownlee and Gilas Pilipinas, coming off a resounding win over New Zealand, are expected to run roughshod over Hong Kong on Sunday in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifier.
Photograph Courtesy of FIBA Asia
From maintaining dominance in Asia to shocking world basketball giants, 2024 proved to be another banner year for Gilas Pilipinas.
Although head coach Tim Cone called it a trial year for the national team program there’s no denying the massive gains of Gilas under his guidance.
Coming from the heels of a historic gold medal finish in the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Cone returned to take the coaching reins and brought Gilas to greater heights.
Cone stuck with a lean pool for his 12-man roster, opting to keep the same familiar faces led by workhorse naturalized player Justin Brownlee for the first window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifier last February.
It was easy picking for the Filipinos as they crushed Hong Kong, 94-64, on the road before blowing out Chinese-Taipei, 106-53, in Manila to complete a sweep.
Dominating their usual victims, however, did little to raise the public’s confidence in Gilas’ biggest challenge: Booking a spot for the Paris Olympics.
Giant leap
Four months after their first tour of duty for the year, Cone and his Gilas men reconvened for a short preparation for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.
Their mission was to end a long wait for an Olympiad return since the country’s last participation back in the 1972 Munich edition.
Valuing familiarity, cohesion and chemistry, Cone kept his pool intact. But it also had its drawbacks.
Gilas flew into Europe with just an 11-man lineup following the injuries suffered by forward Jamie Malonzo, big man AJ Edu and Scottie Thompson.
There, Gilas played in a couple of tune-up games against powerhouse European squads. The Filipinos gave world No. 24 Turkey a tough match before bowing, 74-83, and nearly scored an upset over 15th ranked Poland, 80-82.
Holding their own against two of the world’s best teams somehow gave Gilas a confidence boost heading into the OQT against host Latvia and Georgia in the group stage.
Gilas, in a shocking yet convincing fashion, stunned the world No. 6 Latvians right on their home turf after pulling off an 89-80 upset in a game where the Filipinos even went up by as many as 26.
Brownlee was again the man of the hour for the Philippines’ first victory over a European since the 1960 Rome Olympics after a near triple-double.
For the first time, the Europeans found Gilas’ size a huge problem, with behemoths Kai Sotto and June Mar Fajardo making their presence felt inside the paint.
Cone also reintroduced the vaunted triangle offense that caught Latvia off-guard.
“Anytime you can get to the international arena and have success, that’s a huge feather in your cap. This is a big huge step for us to be able to play a Latvia team at home, and go at them face-to-face, and come out with a win. It’s amazing, it’s amazing for us,” the 25-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) champion coach said.
However, Gilas fell short against the Georgians, 94-96, in a game that left 7-foot-3 Sotto with a bruised rib merely 20 hours after beating Latvia.
Still, Gilas advanced to the semifinal but with just 10 men available the squad was booted out by Brazil, 60-71, that put an end to the Philippines’ Olympic dream.
“It’s hard to talk about this right after you lose. But it’s a growth experience for us. It’s kind of like a ‘now, we know’ moment. Now, we know we can compete. How can we get that next step in which we can get a little bit better and not just compete, but win,” Cone said.
Standing tall
Carrying the momentum of their trip to Latvia, Gilas rolled into the November window of FIBA Asia Cup qualifier beaming with confidence.
Sure, Gilas once again encountered setbacks with 6-foot-10 Edu sustaining a knee injury and Sotto undergoing a concussion protocol but it also saw the return of Thompson. Sotto eventually got the green light to play just in time for the much-anticipated showdown against New Zealand.
Gilas made history once again after beating the Tall Blacks, 93-89, to end a four-game losing skid over the Kiwis that spanned eight years.
The Nationals then ran over Hong Kong, 93-54, to secure a slot in the Asia Cup next year in Saudi Arabia.
Gilas is 4-0 after two windows.
Bright future
It will be an exciting 2025 for Gilas as international stints will be in abundance.
The third window of the Asian Cup is set in February with Gilas traveling to Taiwan for an away match before visiting New Zealand for a rematch against the Tall Blacks.
