GREATNESS AWAITS
There was palpable optimism that followed the Gilas Pilipinas program into 2024 after the Nationals had come off a banner year that saw the country reclaim its place as the basketball king of Asia.
And with that being said, and after the squad instilled fear in some of the powerhouses in the world with its giant-killing ways in the year about to pass, it’s time for Gilas to realize its real worth in 2025.
National coach Tim Cone and his long-haul cast featuring PBA stars and solid young talents playing overseas gave a glimpse of the many things they are capable of when they debuted internationally in the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers (ACQ) during the summer.
The Filipinos crushed the opposition in both encounters, beating Hong Kong by 30 points on their home turf and then Chinese Taipei by 53 in Pasig City. But while the pair of wins validated this basketball-crazed country the excitement it had at the turn of the year, everyone knew that the real test was in July in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Riga, Latvia.
With a five bannered by PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, Asian Games hero Justin Brownlee, and young cornerstones Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos, Cone knew he had the tools to battle the best in the world.
“When I look at our team, we’ve got some generational talents,” he added. “And I think this team may be ready.”
The team was heading into a real test in Riga where the hosts, Georgia and Brazil—all ranked above the No. 37 Filipinos—awaited.
“It has always been a size factor—that we’re not big enough, we’re not fast enough, we’re not strong enough to play on the international [stage],” Cone said. “But we are.”
Destroying Latvia
It took the Nationals just about three days to get settled in Riga, but that hardly mattered for Gilas when it finally battled the Latvians, the sixth-finest squad on the planet. They looked right at home and a monumental, wire-to-wire 89-80 victory also gave the Philippines its first-ever win against a European side in 64 years.
Gilas lost to the No. 23 Georgians, 96-94, but not without roughening up the Crusaders until the final horn. Cone and his charges advanced to the semifinals to face 12th-ranked Brazil, thanks to the shakeup they caused after upsetting Latvia. But they struggled—and sputtered—as they battled without Sotto, who hurt his rib in the contest prior.
That was the only black eye for them in that tournament, and it caused them a Paris Olympics slot. Still, they did more than what many experts back home thought, especially if one takes into account the last OQT they played in where the Philippines didn’t come close to coming up with a fight.
“It’s hard to talk about this after you lose, but it’s a growth experience for us,” Cone said on the heels of a 71-60 defeat to the Brazilians.
Cone added that while the experience was a sobering one, it should also be a springboard for the program towards its goal of making the World Cup once again and possibly returning to the Olympic Games that will be next staged in Los Angeles in 2028.
“It’s, kind of like a ‘Now we know’ moment. ‘Now we know we can compete.’ So now, how [do] we get that next step in so that we can get a little better? And not just compete—but win?
“We didn’t expect to be here, but once we’re here, we expected to win,” Cone went on. “It’s an incredible disappointment for us and we’re not going to jump up and down and say, ‘Yay, we did our thing and everybody was proud of us.’ Hopefully, that doesn’t get into our mindset.
“We need to keep pushing and moving forward, getting better.”
Gilas cashed in on the many lessons from Riga when the Nationals hosted New Zealand and Chinese Taipei at the resumption of the ACQ windows a few months later.
Brownlee, Sotto and Scottie Thompson—who missed the OQT, starred for the National Five in November, tabbing a 93-80 triumph for the nation’s first-ever victory over the bruising Kiwis, who had been a perennial thorn to the Filipinos’ side since forever.
“We haven’t seen our best team yet,” Cone said. “We’ve been able to beat the No. 6 team [Latvia in the Olympic qualifiers] and the No. 22 [in New Zealand]. So we’re still trying to see where we can go and how far we can go.”
Becoming roadworthy
As Gilas bookended the year on positive notes, Cone said the next step is to ensure the National Five becomes roadworthy. The prompt stems from the fact that the third and final window of the ACQ, along with the Asia Cup itself, will be held away from the comforts of home.
“[W]e’re going to have to learn how to play on the road and win on the road,” he said. “The two away games we’re going to have in February is going to be the toughest part. Two tough teams and both on the road—it’s going to be a tough load for us [but] we’re already looking forward to the challenge.”
Cone isn’t too keen on making any drastic changes to his lean talent pool that also features Japeth Aguilar, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, Kevin Quiambao, Mason Amos, AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo. And he had some compelling reasons why.
But he keeps the door ajar for any changes, so long that they are made in the name of progress.
“I am less likely to want to increase the pool. I think the more you increase the pool, the more teaching you have to do … [I]f you can keep a core going all the time and, and really focus on that core, keep it a tight group, then that core is going to get better.
“If you start expanding the pool, you have to go back to zero and start teaching all over again everything that you’ve taught,” he said.
