By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas is in a race against time to get the cohesion the team needs for the upcoming games against Jordan and Iran but head coach Tim Cone is confident that the team will be ready come game time.
The Nationals have been in training since last week and had several closed door tuneup games in the lead up for the crucial contest against Jordan on Friday, Aug. 28 and against Iran on Sunday, Aug. 30.
With Justin Brownlee out of the roster and Kai Sotto coming back from a long layoff, the team is still re-learning how to play with each other, admitted Cone.
“We’re just trying to get as much experience and time together. Especially because Kai is new to the team. So, we’re just trying to get some experience,” said Cone.
Gilas narrowly defeated Korean Basketball League (KBL) team Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus, 81-76, and then reportedly lost to the Asian Games-bound Gilas team led by Robert Bolick on Monday, Aug. 24.
Gilas, however, made sure to get right back at the Asian Games squad with a victory on Tuesday.
“We’re not as good as we want to be at this point. We need to be better, we feel.
And that included the game against the Koreans, including the game today. We’re still trying to find the best version of ourselves,” stressed Cone.
“But we still got a few more days. And we’re still trying to lock in and get a feel for everybody,” he added.
While the absence of Brownlee is surely a big adjustment for the team, Cone said the team needs to fast track their fine tuning especially guys like Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao and Dwight Ramos, who are expected to be given bigger opportunities and responsibilities in the window.
“We have to move on and figure it out. It’s gonna give more opportunity for guys like KQ and Karl to step up. And get major minutes. For Dwight to be more of a take charge guy,” said Cone.
“So, you lose someone, but that means other people get opportunities. And we’re gonna try to take advantage of those opportunities,” he stressed.
