By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas guns for a winning start to its new era as it takes on Hong Kong in its opening game in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers at the Tsuen Wan Stadium in Hong Kong on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The Nationals plunge back into action for the first time since reigning supreme in last year’s Asian Games and will have to dust off cobwebs against a lower ranked but still dangerous Hong Kong side in the 8 p.m affair
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone is tempering expectations for the Nationals especially that he’s looking at the few windows of the qualifiers as the chance to establish the foundations of his system and philosophy as part of the long term program for the team.
“We will gonna need every little support that we can get. We are still searching for ourselves. We haven’t found ourselves by any means. We know that we’re not gonna be good now as we are in the next two and three windows but we do feel we have the foundation,” said the veteran mentor.
Serving as pillar to Gilas in its opening game is naturalized player Justin Brownlee, who likewise, is not expected to be in tip-top shape following a three-month layoff.
He should, however, have some ample support from the core of the Asiad golden team in the likes of CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Scottie Thompson and Chris Newome. Also part of the crew are the core of the World Cup team in Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto and Jamie Malonzo along with young guns Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo.
The team will be missing the services of twin towers June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu but will get some boost in the frontline with Japeth Aguilar stepping in for the February window.
Cone and his wards are facing a familiar face at the opposing side of the court with veteran big man Duncan Reid leading the charge for Hong Kong. Reid is no stranger to Philippine brand of basketball having played in the PBA during his stint with the Bay Area Dragons.
He even faced up against Aguilar, Thompson, Brownlee and Malonzo during the epic seven-game series against Barangay Ginebra in the Commissioner’s Cup last season.
Hong Kong is coming off a solid showing in the pre-qualifying event, finishing in the top 4 along with Guam, Mongolia and Thailand to advance to the qualifying phase.
The team, however, is also missing some of its key players in Choi Kwan Tsai and Shiu Wah Leung who led the scoring for Hong Kong in the Asia Cup pre-qualifiers
