MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is happy to see the natiobal squad close the week with a full complement of the pool with the arrival of Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo after their games in the Korean Basketball League.
The national team held its practice at the SM Mall of Asia Arena to get itself ready and adjust to the playing court, as the famed Pasay City venue will serve as Gilas’ homecourt for the window 2 of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
“It was the first time in practice that we had a complete pool outside of Kai Sotto. QMB (Quentin Millora-Brown) came in, KQ came in, Carl came, all came in and joined our first practice (at MoA),” said Cone during Saturday’s guesting in the weekly Power & Play sports program of former PBA commissioner Noli Eala.
Other Gilas members in the pool that joined practice include veteran slotman June Mar Fajardo, and his San Miguel Beer teammate CJ Perez, Ginebra stalwarts Scottie Thompson, Troy Rosario and RJ Abarrientos, Meralco wingman Chris Newsome, TNT sharpshooter Calvin Oftana, Juan Gomez De Liano, and new pool addition Justine Baltazar.
Of course, the biggest news this week was the sudden availability of Millora-Brown.
Cone early in the week said, that the 6-10 Fil-American big man and Kai Sotto “chose not” to play in the second window for Gilas.
But with Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas managing to work things out with QMB’s camp, the former one-and-done University of the Philippines slotman was able to rejoin Gilas.
The American mentor said he’s glad to see the team progress this week since opening first day of practice last Monday “terribly” but gradually improving especially after holding training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.
“That was the whole point when I was talking to the team about this program where you try to keep the team intact. So when they come back, you only have a minimum time, but it takes just a minimal amount of time to get back into the rhythm because you know each other, you know the system. It’s just more of a refresh,” shared Gilas coach.
The PBA’s all-time winningest coach said keeping an intact pool allows them to build and keep the chemistry intact.
“Then you have the opportunity to continue to build, build on certain thing like build on your defense, build deeper on offense, a little crisper, a little cleaner,” he added.
“I feel much better about the team now than a year ago or especially since I started, though we don’t have months together, we do have the continuity so it doesn’t take long for them to get back their rhythm and create that chemistry,” stressed Cone.
The Philippines battles New Zealand on February 26 in the first of its of two scheduled home games for the second window.
Gilas then, takes on world no. 6 Australia on March 1.
Australia and the Philippines (36th) share similar immaculate 2-0 records in the first round at Group A.
On the other hand, New Zealand and Guam are winless after their first two matches. The three top teams in the group stage will move on to the second round, with three teams from Group C joining them.