Cone swears Gilas will peak at right time
Apart from Justine Baltazar’s solid showing, Gilas Pilipinas has a lot of catching up to do in its Asian Games buildup following its 81-55 defeat to the Korean national team during a competitive goodwill game on Friday in Suwon.
Photograph courtesy of FIBA
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone had a chance to test the competitiveness of his all-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) squad with just a week left before its title defense in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
It didn’t look good.
The still 11-man Gilas squad got pummeled by the host South Korean national team, 81-55, in the first of two friendlies on Friday night at the Hana Bank Invitational in Suwon City.
Gilas had a lot to work on with its chemistry and cohesion, and especially on its shooting, after going 23-of-82 from the field.
The Philippines only made five three-pointers, played mostly one-on-one with just 12 assists compared to Korea’s 23, and was slower on its feet after trailing the Koreans, 10-19, in fastbreak points.
Gilas, which lacked size without retired June Mar Fajardo, Japan-based 6-foot-11 AJ Edu and 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto and was still missing naturalized player Justin Brownlee, trailed by 12 at the half and was held down to 22 points in the second half to suffer a blowout.
Despite the loss, Cone saw a silver lining in big man Justine Baltazar’s double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds and guard Adrian Nocum’s 10 points.
Gilas hopes to play a better game in the rematch today.
“This is like a dress rehearsal for us. It gives the guys an opportunity to see what the coaching staff is about in terms of prepping, how to prep, how much video to watch, what the practices are like. That’s what we’re going to use in these two Korean games,” Cone said.
Gilas left for South Korea on Wednesday for the final stretch of its buildup to the Asiad. The Filipinos will fly to Nagoya on Monday.
Gilas begins its campaign on Friday against Bahrain in Group C before facing Kazakhstan the following day. The Philippines closes the group stage on 14 September against China in a rematch of the pandemic-delayed Hangzhou edition semifinal three years ago.
“When we get to the Asian Games, I think they’ll be more comfortable with the way the process goes about. It’ll be more fluid when we get to the Asian Games,” Cone said.
The decorated mentor has just handled the Gilas Asiad squad for a few days after calling the shots for the national squad, composed of a different lineup of players, that swept the two-game homestand in the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers fourth window.
Baltazar, reliever Justin Arana and reserve RJ Abarrientos are the only players added to the Asiad Gilas from the FIBA window group.
Most of Cone’s players are playing in the Asian Games for the first time.
So, Gilas is looking to absorb and get the feel for playing at the Asian level during its short training camp.
“I think this trip to Korea is going to help the team a lot in terms of the experience of the international brand of basketball,” Gilas deputy Richard Del Rosario said.
“The Koreans play with a lot of pace. They’re also very physical. It’s good that we experience it now, especially for these players. When it comes to Nagoya, they know what to expect,” he added.
Korea is in Group A with host Japan, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
