Tim Cone talks to the Inquirer Sports staff during an awards dinner in his honor. —MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
National coach Tim Cone knows that a steep trek awaits his charges within the Fiba (International Basketball Federation) Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia this July.
But there’s not a dent in his faith that Gilas Pilipinas is able to springing surprises and that the Philippines finally returning to playing within the Olympics in Paris just isn’t far-fetched.
“I’m a giant believer that there are hard things to do, but nothing’s not possible,” he said on Monday night, shortly after being honored by the Inquirer Sports staff with the Best Performance by a Coach trophy at posh Casa Buenas in Pasay City.
“I do know Latvia is gonna be really hard, but I don’t think it’s not possible. I actually don’t. But I feel it’s gonna be really hard attempting to beat the sixth-ranked team on the planet at their home court,” he went on.
Apart from the Latvians, who’re hands down the most well liked squad on the planet having won 23 of their last 26 games on the Fiba stage, the Nationals will even be playing world No. 23 Georgia. And if it does clear the group phase, Gilas could also play the highest two teams of the opposite bracket that features Brazil, Montenegro and Cameroon.
“Those are all tough teams, but I also don’t think we’re the Thirty seventh-ranked team on the planet,” he said, deadpan. “I feel we’re much higher than that.”
‘Keep it together’
Cone said he draws his optimism after having assembled a talented young team that might be training and playing together for an prolonged time.
“I feel that because we’ve never really put a team like this together and kept it together,” he said. “We’ve never really had a likelihood to bring our 12 best players consistently on a regular basis, keep it together, and do [tournaments].”
Naturalized ace Justin Brownlee leads the long-haul solid that features PBA stars June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, Jamie Malonzo and Calvin Oftana. Also within the bunch are Kai Sotto, AJ Edu and Dwight Ramos, who’re plying their trade in Japan. Rounding out the solid are Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao.
“You take a look at our size, our athleticism, from backcourt to frontcourt, there’s not gonna be many teams on the market which are really gonna outsize us,” said Cone. “There are some guys who’re gonna be more physical than us, possibly.
“But they’re not gonna outsize us. I feel that all the time gives us a possibility. It’s not not possible. We’re not gonna get overwhelmed by anybody’s size, by anybody’s athleticism.”
“And we’ve strong guards who can defend. If we are able to bring our greatest game, bring our greatest version of ourselves, I feel we’re able to beating anybody,” he went on.
Cone knows all too well that utilizing that wealth in talent and potential and tabbing actual results are entirely different from projections.
“I feel we’re able to beating anybody. Whether we are able to try this or not is the massive query,” he said.
