Tim Cone had high praise for big man Quentin Millora-Brown and is looking forward to work with the former UP big man with Gilas Pilipinas.
The Gilas Pilipinas men’s program received a shot in the arm with former UP big man Quentin Millora-Brown now classified by FIBA as a local, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) confirmed.
A UAAP Season 87 champion with the Fighting Maroons, Millora-Brown has drawn the admiration of Gilas head coach Tim Cone.
[RELATED: Quentin Millora-Brown can now join Gilas Pilipinas as a local]
With this development, QMB should be able to join the Gilas pool that is now all of a sudden beaming with youthful frontcourt talent.
At 6'10" and just 25 years old, Millora-Brown will be among the likes of AJ Edu and Kai Sotto as Gilas big men now and moving forward.
[READ: Tim Cone admits hardest part is facing Filipino fans after Gilas' early FIBA Asia Cup exit]
“Oh man, I mean, what can you say? You get a talented, athletic, young, six-foot-10, six-foot-11 player, who’s still… He’s the 6-10 KQ, in terms of what it means to the program,” said Cone during News5’s Power & Play with former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala and sportsman Jera Sison.
“Bringing in a big guy like that, he’s basically just what the doctor ordered,” Cone added of QMB.
For Cone, Millora-Brown’s entry into the program comes at an opportune time, helping offset the natural decline of the older big men like June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar.
As for integrating QMB into the system, the PBA’s winningest coach is hopeful that his triangle offense works just as well for Millora-Brown as it has been going for Gilas’ other big men.
“With QMB, we have a guy that’s slotting in right there. This program that we put together, we haven’t had Kai and AJ on the team at the same time in a practice. Now we get the opportunity to have that happen in the near future, and then you add a QMB to that, and man, that’s something we can really work off of,” said Cone.
“I’m really excited. I think he works tremendously well within our triangle system and I think he’s really gonna enjoy playing that position in the triangle. I think our big men really enjoy being in the triangle,” he continued.
With QMB now a local, he can have the opportunity to join the national team this year as Gilas Pilipinas will have the opening window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the Southeast Asian Games still lined up for the rest of 2025.