Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone sees the logic of having two separate teams competing in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers fourth window and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Learning from a horrific episode in the Asiad over a decade ago, playing a fresh lineup — albeit lacking in size — in the Philippines’ defense of the gold medal could be a great decision.

Gilas will be fielding a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) stars-backed crew for the 10 to 20 September competition.

Cone is handling a Gilas squad with a different composition from the one that swept its two games to start the World Cup Qualifiers second round over the weekend.

The Asiad-bound squad will be missing overseas-based players Kevin Quiambao, 6-foot-11 AJ Edu, Dwight Ramos and injured Carl Tamayo, as well as 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto and retired big man June Mar Fajardo.

Still, Cone remains confident of Gilas’ chances of a repeat championship.

He knows he will need a team that is well-rested and healthy, especially with Gilas now relying on speed and quickness to compensate for its lack of ceiling.

“It’s really kind of smart in my opinion and I wasn’t the one who came up with the idea of bringing two teams, of making two teams. But, you know, you come up these windows like this, you’re really exhausted. The preparation you had to do, you got to turn around and go right to the Asian Games,” Cone said.

“We’ve had that in the past and it hasn’t worked out.”

The decorated mentor was referring to the ill-fated Gilas team of then-head coach Chot Reyes, which came into the 2014 Incheon Asiad less than two weeks after a grueling campaign in the 2014 World Cup in Spain.

“I remember Chot’s team when he went to the World Cup. They played fabulous in the World Cup. I think it was in Spain. And then they had to fly all the way to Korea, I think it was, and play the Asian Games. And they just didn’t have the energy to play because after that grueling World Cup that they had,” Cone said.

Despite having national team legends Jimmy Alapag, Ranidel De Ocampo, Gabe Norwood and LA Tenorio, Gilas bombed out early and settled for seventh place in a run infamous for naturalized player Marcus Douthit shooting at the opponent’s goal.

Needing to win by a big margin against Kazakhstan to qualify for the semifinal, Douthit tried to force overtime with an own goal in the closing seconds with Gilas up by two.

However, game officials nullified the basket and Gilas won, but Kazakhstan took the semis seat by superior quotient.

Cone doesn’t want a repeat of that.

“So, the idea of bringing fresher guys, motivated guys, guys who are motivated to come out and play for their country, I think it’s a good idea,” he said.

Gilas is in Group C with China, which it beat in the semifinal of the previous Asiad, Bahrain and Kazakhstan.