Cone, Gilas eye strong follow-up to 41-point rout of Guam
It will now be Gilas Pilipinas’ turn to host Guam in the Fiba (International Basketball Federation) World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Monday and the Filipinos have every intention of building on their 41-point rout three days ago.
“That’s the big thing about home-and-away, you got to follow it up,” coach Tim Cone said as Gilas looks to repeat over the Jericho Cruz-led side at Blue Eagle Gym inside the Ateneo campus.
World Cup Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. as the Philippines aims to sweep the window that serves as a prelude to the big matches ahead in the first qualification round of the 2027 World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
Gilas won the first meeting, 87-46, at Calvo Fieldhouse, but Cone noted that the final score didn’t reflect the kind of battle his team encountered in the early goings.
Cruz was among those who led Guam’s spirited first half that kept things tight until Gilas managed to create some distance going into halftime and then blow away its opponents in the final two periods.
The Philippines played before a crowd that even rooted for them, with a smattering of “Ginebra” chants breaking out during the game.
But playing on home soil will give Gilas more advantage outside of its manpower superiority over the visitors, who may come out with plenty of desire this time.
“If you look at the score, you’re going to look at yourself, we’re going to look at ourselves and have that opportunity to relax and not really come with it the second time around. They’re going to come incredibly motivated,” said Cone.
“But hopefully, you know, we have the home crowd that will get us pumped up. We don’t play at home very often. So when we do, everybody’s excited to watch them. So we’re hoping that will be the thing that can generate our excitement to come back home and follow up this win.”
Homecoming
Ateneo will be some sort of homecoming for a few players on the Gilas roster, namely Dwight Ramos and Japeth Aguilar.
Ramos was with Ateneo prior to becoming a part of the Gilas program, while Aguilar, who played for the Blue Eagles in the UAAP during the mid-2000s, may come full circle if he does come out for his final appearance in a national team jersey.
Aguilar had hinted that the window may be his last, given that his plans for retire from international duty have been delayed multiple times.
But with Gilas having added some younger big men to the pool, especially with Quentin Millora-Brown coming off a debut and Kai Sotto due for a return from his injury in the next window, Aguilar may finally find the right time to retire from international duty.
