Cone braces for Aussies, Kiwis

The second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers might be a few months away but Gilas Pilipinas is already looking forward to facing powerhouse Australia and New Zealand on home soil.

Gilas coach Tim Cone said they are banking on the home crowd as they look to sustain their momentum following their impressive two-game sweep of Guam last Monday.

The Filipinos displayed impressive form to book an 87-46 victory last Friday at the Calvo Field House in Guam before posting a 95-71 conquest last Monday at the Blue Eagle Gym inside Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City.

But Cone stressed that this streak will be worthless if they will not beat New Zealand and Australia on 26 February and 1 March, respectively, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“We have our eyes on it. We know New Zealand pretty well and we played them several times,” said Cone, who drew 20 points from Justin Brownlee in their second match with Guam.

“We played Australia in the Asia Cup and we know what’s ahead of us. We know it’s not going to be easy, but we’re hoping that playing at home will make a difference for us.”

Gilas will be facing the two superpowers without Japeth Aguilar, who already announced his retirement following 16 years of international action.

Gilas stalwart Dwight Ramos, however, isn’t really worried, believing that they still have a lot of players who can step up like AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo and Kai Sotto, who will be returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“I already feel old because I’ve been with this team for so long. Maybe I’m one of the younger guys but I feel like I’m a young veteran, in a way,” said Ramos, who represents the future of the national team.

“This is a team that it’d be nice to be a part of. We’re becoming that team and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Ramos believes with the crowd cheering them on, they have a good chance to get at least one win at home.

“The two wins put us in a good position heading to the second round and we’re just gonna try to win as many games and get to qualify for the World Cup. New Zealand and Australia, we have to try to win some of those games,” Ramos said.

“We need to keep getting better but I think from the Asia Cup to now we’ve already improved so we’re just gonna keep building.”

Having a healthy roster and home court advantage could do wonders for the Filipinos.

After all, the Philippines was able to pull off a 93-89 victory over New Zealand in the FIBA Asian Cup Qualifiers last year at the Mall of Asia Arena with Brownlee firing 26 points and Sotto posting a double-double game of 19 points and 10 rebounds.