GILAS Pilipinas got the job done in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, but national coach Tim Cone is not one to feel giddy about his charges’ chances moving forward.
“Make no mistake, we have a long way to go. This was a pretty game tonight. We didn’t go out there to put on a show and show how good we are,” Cone said. “We just wanted to go out there and work. It just turned out that way.
“But we also realize we have a lot of work ahead of us and a long way to go,” he added.
Cone spoke after the Filipino cagers manhandled a hapless Chinese Taipei five 106-53 to complete a 2-0 sweep of their opening round campaign in Group B before a big and roaring home crowd at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
The Philippine five will now turn its sights on the Olympic qualifying tournament in July in Latvia where Cone’s team faces a tall task in their bid to gain a slot in the Paris Olympics.
“I don’t think there’s one guy on our team not looking forward to June and getting back together and getting this thing going again. I think they all had a great time. It took a lot of work in Inspire Camp,” Cone said. “This 2-0 start is great, but it’s just a baby step on the way. We need a lot bigger strides as we go, and the next game we play is gonna be Latvia, which is a top-10 team.
“They just beat Spain a couple of days ago. So, can we get to that level? That’s going to answer more questions for us.”
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee shone anew for Gilas with game-highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds, on top of five assists, while 7-foot-3 big man Kai Sotto chipped in 18 markers, 10 boards, five dimes, and three blocks.
Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, and Kevin Quiambao also added 13, 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively, as Gilas did an encore to its 94-64 whipping of Hong Kong four nights back.
The second round of the qualifiers is set for Nov. 21 and Nov. 24, with the perennial issue of preparation time gnawing at Cone anew.
“There’s only a certain number of things that we can control, and there’s only certain amounts of time we can get everybody together. So, it’s not like we can come out and prepare for months or even weeks,” Cone said. “The agreement is, we have 10 days before we play our first game against Latvia.
“That might be 10 days here, or Inspire Camp every day, or maybe it’s going out and trying to find some friendlies against some European teams so we can get a feel of the way they play.”
Gilas’ emphatic victory over Chinese Taipei is a step in the right direction in the national team’s new era under Cone.
“I like the way we played tonight. We just really worked hard on both sides of the floor and did that throughout the whole game, 40 minutes. I think we have to remember Chinese Taipei just played a top-20 team three days ago in New Zealand. They played them till the end of the game. In the last four or five minutes of the game, they were in the game,” Cone said.
