Gilas Pilipinas gets ready for New Zealand, Hong Kong matches
Gilas Pilipinas, three months removed from its last campaign, returns to action in a few weeks looking to build on the program’s recent gains.
The Nationals take on New Zealand and then shoot for a repeat over Hong Kong in two Fiba Asia Cup Qualifying home stands penciled at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Nov. 21 and 24, respectively. Gilas is again planning a short camp to prime for a character test against a rejigged and rejuvenated Tall Blacks squad.
The Kiwis recently appointed Judd Flavell as its head coach. A member of the famed New Zealand World Championship team mentored by Tab Baldwin and Nenad Vucinic, Flavell will be calling the shots for the visitors, who, like the Filipinos, are trying to keep their record in the tournament pristine.
“[We’re] looking forward to measuring up with them because they have handled us easily in the last few years playing against us,” national coach Tim Cone said, referring to the Tall Blacks’ four-match mastery of the Filipinos that has spanned for over eight years.
The last time Gilas played New Zealand was back in the 2022 Fiba Asia Cup held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The only two members of the Philippine team that will be playing in the November rematch are Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo.
“I think every country has their own unique style of play. But for us, we do that in a number of ways but also with the culture, the heritage that we have; we’re a lot more than the 12 players on the basketball court,” said Flavell.
“I think we’ve got a great group with established experience … I really feel like we can get our wins on the international stage.”
Facing reality
Gilas has just about the same kind of weapon as far as “established experience” is concerned. The original, long-haul cast named by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas back in January will be seeing action again, with some previously injured players now back in the pink of health.
AJ Edu, the prolific big man who missed Gilas’ two big victories over Chinese-Taipei and Hong Kong, is expected to suit up for the Nationals in the looming Fiba window. Cone has also been optimistic that high-leaping forward Jamie Malonzo would be back in harness by then.
The national coach has since allayed fears that Gilas is again preparing within a short amount of time, saying that it is just the reality the program has to face if it wants certain players for its bid.
“I know a lot of people are wondering why we’re doing such short preparations … The whole idea is we’re to do a cumulative preparation. The window we had versus Taiwan and Hong Kong in the first window was our prep going into the second window,” Cone said.
“The reason for that is we can’t get all the players together at an early time. So you’re either stuck with a longer preparation and not getting the players you want,” he went on, “or having short preparation time and having the players you want.
Gilas, starring June Mar Fajardo, naturalized ace Justin Brownlee and young cornerstones Dwight Ramos and Kai Sotto, will be at the peak of their fitness by game time having played through high-stakes matches in the PBA and B.League.
And that’s just the additional preparation the Gilas will be needing, not only for November but for the months to come.
“The whole point of our program is to have continual improvement and together as we go through the year,” Cone said. “One window helps us prepare for the next window [which] helps us prepare for the next window.
