Coach Tim Cone is leaning on familiarity as Gilas Pilipinas take on Australia and New Zealand in window 2 of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
Gilas Pilipinas begin training camp 10 days before the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in Manila.
The national team is expected to convene on Feb. 16 ahead of their matches against New Zealand (Feb. 26) and Australia (March 1) at the Mall of Asia Arena.
In an article posted on Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ website, Cone said they need to wait from the players coming from their respective leagues in the Japan B.LEAGUE and Korean Basketball League.
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“Although the PBA has finished, we’re still waiting on our players from Japan and Korea to be released from their mother teams,” Cone said in the said article.
“That won’t happen until the 16th when they begin to trickle in that week.”
The veteran mentor already said Kai Sotto is doubtful for the window where Gilas Pilipinas are staking their perfect 2-0 win-loss record.
AJ Edu and Dwight Ramos will be coming over from Japan, while Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo are also expected to join the team from South Korea.
Cone said Gilas will have an initial workout at the Upper Deck Sports Center in Ortigas then heads to Calamba, Laguna for a camp at the Inspire Sports Academy.
While they will have limited time to prepare for the said window, Cone is confident familiarity will go a long a way.
“That limits our prep time together. But these guys have been together for multiple tournaments and windows for the past two years, so the familiarity is mostly already there,” he said.
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.