Cruz–and more–has Cone, Gilas wary of Guam
Tim Cone is well aware of Jericho Cruz’s going into the two meetings with Guam in the first window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
“We all know how Jericho plays,” Cone said of the San Miguel Beer wingman. “He plays hard all the time, [plays] physical [and can] get under your skin when he wants to.”
But Cone and Gilas know too well that they can’t reduce Guam solely to Cruz’s abilities when the Philippines battles the American territory on Nov. 28 on the road andon Dec. 1 at Blue Eagle Gym inside the Ateneo campus.
“They got three or four [NCAA] Division I players from the States, so they got some real players, and they’re going to be tough,” added Cone.
Gilas is heavily favored to sweep both games against a Guam side powered by Cruz, who had said that he and the rest of the team will come in with a nothing-to-lose attitude.
With Cruz in tow, Guam slowly developed into a team that qualified to the Asia Cup for the first time ever last August, getting its lone win over Syria in three group stage matches to reach the quarterfinals.
That success has made Cone even more wary.“They’re going to be tough at home, and we all have to understand that,” he said. “That’s one of the messages that we’re trying to send to our team. There’s a reason why they actually made it past the first round in the Asia Cup by beating Syria.
“And Syria’s not a bad team. Syria was heavily favored, and they (Guam) were able to upset Syria. So again, nothing is for granted for us. Take nothing for granted.”
Cone will rely on the scouting reports and videos of games during the continental tournament. Even then, past experience has shown that even substantial intel may not be enough.
“I’ve watched all those games, so I know a little bit about them,” said Cone. “But we felt we knew a lot about Taiwan, too, when we played them, and they showed up with some guys we didn’t know about and really surprised us.
“So we don’t want to be surprised this time, gotta be ready.”
