GILAS coach Tim Cone admitted the national side will face a tough road heading to the second round of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers as the team battles Jordan and Iran in a pair of homes games late this August.
The American said he recently revisited game tapes of the two West Asian ballclubs whom Gilas faced and defeated in its run-up to winning the Asian Games men’s basketball gold in Hangzhou, China in 2023.
But things have changed a lot, that’s for sure, he added.
“We’ve been looking at their videos already. I even went back to the (2023) Asian Games and viewed that a couple nights ago,” Cone said in the Power and Play sports program hosted by former PBA commissioner Noli Eala over the weekend.
“The players in the Asian Games the last time we played against are different, (but) their stars are the same,“ he said.
But Cone believes beating the two dominant West Asian squads require having the best players for Gilas.
“It’s all coming down to can we get the best players. If we can get the best players, I don’t have any fear of them,” added the all-time PBA winning coach, whose Gilas side has lost its last four games in the first round of the Asian qualifiers.
Cone admitted the uncertainty of Kai Sotto’s availability, along with that of June Mar Fajardo and Quentin Millora-Brown pose more problems at the Gilas front court.
“Now we’re lacking in size. We’re not sure with June Mar, not sure with Kai, and QMB,” he said, in enumerating the three major big men whose status are in question for the two FIBA home games.
Cone added that Mike Phillips, who had an impressive Gilas debut as a local in the recent FIBA window, won’t be available as he attends the wedding of his brother Ben in the US
“Phillips has bowed out as he attends the wedding of his brother,” confirmed Cone on the former La Salle big man, who averaged 4.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in Gilas’ road games against New Zealand and Australia.
