By NIKOLE JAVIER
Following his re-appointment as the men’s national basketball team head coach, Tim Cone is working with the cards he’s been dealt as Gilas Pilipinas launches another bid to regain the Asian Games crown in Hangzhou starting next week.
With the unavailability of several players that saw action in the recent FIBA World Cup which the country co-hosted, the Ginebra coach is banking heavily on the excitement of the players of being in the team as the team’s biggest motivating factor.
And also for Cone himself.
“They are excited of the prospect of playing against China, Korea, Bahrain and Jordan. They are excited about that. So that’s not something I have to motivate or worry about. They’re really motivated,” said Cone.
While it looks like it’s a job for a ‘super hero,’ Cone is willing to embrace the role and face the challenge head on despite not having the luxury of preparing long enough.
“It’s just a matter of trying to pull them together and giving them a concept in which they can perform and that’s my job. I like that I don’t have to motivate cause they’re excited to be here,” he added.
Before looking far ahead –facing the likes of the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and even the Taiwanese – the Nationals must first hurdle their group assignment that include Jordan, Bahrain and Thailand in Group C.
Initially, there were seven players from the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster that made up the supposed 12-man squad in June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Kiefer Ravena, Roger Pogoy, Japeth Aguilar, CJ Perez and Jamie Malonzo.
However, only Fajardo, Thompson, Aguilar and Pogoy are the remaining core of the group who have committed to see action at the continental tournament.
During their joint open practice on Thursday, Sept. 14 with the Gilas Women, World Cup big men Fajardo and Aguilar were the only ones in attendance along with Chris Newsome, who was cut from the roster, while Jason Perkins, Calvin Oftana, Justin Brownlee and returning stars Calvin Abueva and Terrence Romeo completed the cast.
Set to join the squad in the next practice are naturalized player Ange Kouame, Mo Tautuaa and Thompson who all had family emergencies to attend to.
“This is the Final 12. There are no other choices. This is the Final 12. Stanley (Pringles) is our 13th in case something happens. He’s sacrificed himself coming here and working with us even though he doesn’t have a spot on the team at this point. Unless something God forbid happens to one of the players. Other than that, the 12 includes the nine we had here in this practice,” Cone said.
After the World Cup, most of the players have since returned to their club commitments overseas including Dwight Ramos and Kai Sotto.
Thankfully, the reinforcements of Brownlee and Kouame will be available for the Philippines at the same time since the Asian Games does not follow FIBA’s eligibility rules.
“Right now, we had four guys, three of them ironically had family emergencies. Four players aren’t here. But they are all available, everybody wants to be here. I think that’s the biggest part about this team, the strongest part about this team is that they’re excited to be on the national team,” Cone said.
