Gomez de Liaño gets nod from national coach Cone
Coach Tim Cone noted that Juan Gomez de Liaño’s inclusion in the Gilas Pilipinas pool had little to do with the way the all-around super rookie torched his Barangay Ginebra for 32 points in their recent PBA matchup.
But Cone sees the presence of Gomez de Liaño as a way to strengthen Gilas’ backcourt depth, not only for the start of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers later this month, but at least in succeeding windows.
“It was a position that we felt we could use, a little bit more of a scorer, ball-controller and a pick-and-roll guy,” Cone said after announcing Gomez de Liaño’s inclusion on Sunday.
Cone did not assure Gomez de Liaño an outright slot for the two matches against Jericho Cruz and Guam on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, but he sees the need for more depth outside of those who are familiar picks under him.
“[Scottie Thompson] is not a three-level scorer in many regards. He’s just a pure hustle guy who is a great defender and makes intangible plays that don’t show up. That’s why he’s so spectacular,” he said.
“[Chris Newsome] is a guy that can also defend and he has really, really improved his offense over the last couple of years. But neither of them are, I would say, pure, pure point guards. They’re more one-twos and combo guards.”
‘Much initiation’
Scoring, however, was not the sole reason for giving Gomez de Liaño strong consideration.
“What really impressed me with Juan is his defense,” he said. “I thought his defense was really spectacular. And that’s what we expect from the point guard position. We want a great defender because in the international game, there’s so much initiation through the point guard and the high screens.
“They initiate so much. You’ve got to have a great defender to front your defense and to have a chance against these really good teams. I’m talking about the European teams, the Australians and [New Zealand]. They initiate a lot through their point guards. And their point guards are big and they’re strong. So that’s why we’re looking for bigger players at that position to match up.”
QMB debut
The window will also mark the debut of Quentin Millora-Brown to provide more cover for June Mar Fajardo in the middle, with Kai Sotto still out due to his injury.
Gilas is set to begin preparations on Tuesday at Blue Eagle Gym inside the Ateneo campus, the site of the second meeting with Guam.
