MANILA, Philippines — With the clock ticking for Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone to name the final 12 for the second window of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers, the American coach assured everyone that those who can’t make the final cut doesn’t mean they are out of it already.
“You play yourself on, you play off the team, that’s what it is, that’s the bottomline, while the other thing is, no matter who is out for this (final) 12, they are (still) very much in, in the program,” Cone said over the weekend in his appearance at the Power and Play sports program of former PBA commissioner Noli Eala.
The amiable Gilas mentor said everyone knows that the national team continues to adjust and evolve, given the ever-growing basketball landscape today.
But at the end of the day, the 68-year-old American coach said what’s really important is that Gilas players continue to grow under the system that’s in place.
“We’ve seen how things have changed, QMB (Quentin Millora-Brown) coming in, Japeth (Aguilar) retiring, this is a normal progression for a basketball team,” he stressed.
“You want to continually grow and we’ll see how things go, but no matter what happens, those who won't make it are still part of the pool,” said Cone.
The Gilas pool currently has 15 players.
Cone is expected to name the final any time soon.
Naturalized player Justine Brownlee heads the Gilas 12 set to wage war and defend the homecourt against New Zealand on February 26, Thursday, followed by Australia on March 1 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Expected to make the final cut are veteran big man June Mar Fajardo, AJ Edu and Millora-Brown, whose management team managed to thresh things out with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas late last week that enabled him to make himself available for window 2.
Guards Dwight Ramos, Scottie Thompson and shooters Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome and vastly improved young forward Kevin Quiambao are also strong shoo-ins for the final 12 given their familiarity with Cone’s system.
Others out to fight for a spot in the final 12, include RJ Abarrientos, Troy Rosario, Carl Tamayo, Juan Gomez De Liano and recent addition Justine Baltazar.