Cone prepares to handle two Gilas squads for Fiba, Asian Games defense

MANILA, Philippines–Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone will now shift his focus to handling not just one but two versions of Gilas Pilipinas for the crucial fourth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the defense of the Asian Games gold.

Cone said that Gilas practice is set to start on Monday, with the Asian Qualifiers squad beginning preparations for the two home games against Jordan and Iran later in the month at Mall of Asia Arena.

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Afterward, Cone will get to prepare the team for the Aichi-Nagoya Asiad, with the campaign to start on Sept. 10. Gilas is the defending champion after ending a six-decade gold drought three years ago in China.

“We’re going to have pretty much two separate teams,” Cone said after Ginebra’s 97-88 loss to Meralco at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Gilas is in dire need of getting results in the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers, beginning with the Aug. 28 game against Jordan followed by the Aug. 30 matchup with Iran.

The Philippines finished the first round of the qualification with a 2-4 win-loss record, and will need to practically win at least the majority of its games in the second round, or sweep altogether in order to make the World Cup as one of the top four teams in Group E.

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Meanwhile, Gilas was drawn in Group C of the Asian Games with rival China, Kazakhstan and Bahrain, needing a top two finish or become two of the three best third-placers to reach the knockout stages.

Cone said assistant coaches Richard del Rosario, Jong Uichico and Josh Reyes have been tapped to run the Gilas Asian Games team while focusing on the World Cup Qualifiers.

The Asian Games pool is composed mostly of PBA players, some of whom have past national team experiences have not been tapped since Cone took over or have yet to experience international ball.