Is Gilas Pilipinas capable of pulling off a surprise on the road in the comng third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers?
Tim Cone said he wouldn’t be shock at all.
“We’ve been a team that pulled surprises before and I’m not going to be surprised if we pulled it off,” said the veteran coach.
The national team did it before, stunning China at home in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, upset then no. 6 ranked Latvia in the FIBA Olympic qualifier in Riga, and escaped past Saudi Arabia in overtime during the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah.
Cones hopes the magic continues to work for Gilas as it battles New Zealand in Auckland and Australia in Perth next week at the close of the first round of the qualifiers.
The Filipinos will first take on the Tall Blacks on July 3 and then travelled to Australia for the July 6 meeting with the Boomers.
And Cone is bracing for the two tough games on the road.
“Every game for Gilas is a championship game. It’s a Game 7,” quipped the Barangay Ginebra coach. “And we just got to be prepared the best way we can.”
And it’s a good thing Cone appreciated the work done by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas of having the national team travelled to Down Under almost two weeks prior to the window, hold a training camp there and adjust to the cold weather.
“I like the way the SBP has set it up for us in terms of being able to go down to Brisbane and acclimatize ourselves to the weather a little bit, get a camp down there, and play a couple of friendlies against pro New Zealand teams,” said the Gilas coach.
“I think that’s a really good preparation for us,” added Cone. “I’ve always said a prepared team is a confident team. If we feel like we’re prepared and ready to go, then we’re going to be confident, and that will show in our game. And I think this is really one of our best chances to do that with the prepartion that we have and the preparation behind us.” PR
