By REYNALD MAGALLON
Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone confirmed talks with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas for a possible permanent head coaching stint with Gilas Pilipinas but also clarified that no firm decision has been made yet.
Cone, arguably the most logical choice so far for the coaching post after guiding the nationals to gold medal in the Asian Games last year, said the public was quick to ‘jump the gun’ on his rumored hiring as he clarified that everything was still up in the air.
“I think everybody’s jumping the gun on this. That’s up to the SBP and I think they are still up in the air about it. I have had some conversations with them but there’s nothing definite. I think you have to wait for their announcement on how they want to do it,” said Cone.
The veteran mentor shared that he indeed talked with SBP last week but he hasn’t heard anything from the SBP leadership since then.
“They’ve interviewed me, they talked to me about it, but there’s been no firm answer yet. That’s where we are at this point,” shared Cone.
“Not yet but I’m not sure if I’m the one they are settling on,” explained the multi-titled mentor when asked if the SBP has reached out to him after their initial talks.
The SBP is expected to make an announcement in the coming days as the federation is also in the race with time in naming its pool of players for the upcoming first window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers set in February.
The Nationals are playing Hong Kong on the road before hosting Chinese Taipei at the PhilSports Arena.
“I know that they are kinda in a hurry because the February window will be in a few weeks. They still have to assemble the team and do all kinds of things. But it’s not on me to announce anything,” stressed Cone
“It’s really on the SBP. You wanna find out what’s going on, you’ve got to go to the source, go to the SBP president or director. Either Erika (Dy) or Sir Al Panlilio. But it’s not on me to say anything,” he added.
