By REYNALD MAGALLON
Coming out with a victory that no one had ever expected against world No.6 Latvia in the opening game is somehow a double-edged sword for Gilas Pilipinas.
While it certainly boosts the Nationals’ chances of making it to the next of the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Riga, Latvia, Gilas head coach Tim Cone said his wards must be wary of putting unnecessary pressure on themselves ahead of their all-important clash against another European team in Georgia.
“Whenever you win a game the expectation goes up so then you have to keep chasing expectations. Hopefully we don’t feel that, hopefully we can get that communicated to our team,” said Cone whose Gilas only had less than a day to turn their focus on the world No. 23 Georgia.
Expectations should be high for the Gilas especially after proving that it has what it takes to beat a European team – a feat that was never done in the last 64 years – after the Filipinos claimed the scalp of the Latvians with an 89-80 win.
The focus for the Nationals according to Cone is to play how they should play especially that they still need a victory to formalize their entry to the semifinals of the OQT. If they win they will seize the top spot of the tournament and will face the second seed of the other group that featured Montenegro, Brazil and Cameroon.
Gilas also has some sort of leeway that even if it loses, it can still advance to the semis as long as it doesn’t lose by 19 or more points against the Crusaders.
“We can’t play the expectation. Just play the way we can play. Like I said our country has been passionate about basketball, there’s a lot of intense pressure to succeed,” stressed Cone.
“They want us to be successful all the time so we have to turn around and play Georgia tomorrow and our country is gonna expect us, especially us after the win tonight, to win tomorrow,” he added.
Despite the win, Gilas seemed to be the underdog against the Georgians who are bannered by two NBA big men in Alexander Mamukelashvili and Goga Bitadze.
“It’s going to be a really tough job for us to beat Georgia,” said Cone.
