Gilas Pilipinas endured a losing record in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, making their exit in the quarterfinals after a lopsided loss to Australia.
Gilas Pilipinas suffered an unceremonious exit from the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 earlier this week, bounced by Australia by way of a 24-point beatdown in the quarterfinals.
Head coach Tim Cone, just days after returning to Manila from Jeddah, said that it was a tough pill to swallow — especially since he had expected his team to perform better.
But the most unfortunate part was facing the disappointment of Filipino fans both in Jeddah and in Manila, as Gilas Pilipinas were unable to give them a better performance.
“Well, the hardest part about the FIBA Asia Cup, was getting on the plane coming back here and facing the music of our poor performance. We just didn’t play as well as I’d hoped. We didn’t play within the vision, I guess, is the best way to put it,” Cone said on New5’s Power&Play with former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala.
“We had a vision on how we’re supposed to play and we didn’t quite develop the discipline that we needed to play in that stage.”
Cone acknowledged the growing camaraderie in the team, built by players who have mostly stayed together during this national team cycle. However, coach Tim also said the team as a whole weren't just up to par this time around.
Their struggles were compounded by not only facing Australia, but running into New Zealand early too.
“These guys are really great guys, there’s no drama in this team. They just come to play, they get along really well together and you know, they’re great to be around and but… As much as you know we wanna talk about the good feelings amongst the team, which is really there, it still comes down to performance, and we didn’t play as well as we wanted to play,” he said.
“We had some tough opponents. I think we were the only team in the tournament that had to play the two Oceania teams — New Zealand and Australia. So tough to get through those two,“ Cone continued.
[READ: No Gilas plan worked vs Aussies in FIBA Asia Cup QF, says Cone: 'They just overwhelmed us’]
It will only get tougher from here on out with regard to the Oceania powerhouses, as Gilas Pilipinas will play both in the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
The Philippines will play four games against Australia and New Zealand in Group A next year.