Tim Cone has finally accepted the role of Gilas Pilipinas coach in the coming Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China... and it feels like his blond hair would turn into Jong Uichico and Chot Reyes white in an instant.
First of all, he is going to create a lineup centered around Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, and Scottie Thompson. These names are good enough foundations for the task at hand, but the next names on his list would be troublesome.
Yes, Gilas has a lot of options at the guard spot but they also need to have actual spots in the lineup for guard spots. In the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas only had Kiefer Ravena as the true PG player other than Scottie Thompson. For most of the tourney, Thompson couldn’t get his game going and if Chot wasn’t fielding Kiefer, either Jordan Clarkson or Dwight Ramos would take over as quarterback.
When that happens, NO MORE BALL ROTATION!!!
Ahem.
It would have been awesome to have Robert Bolick and Matthew Wright in uniform but I guess the team can use Mark Barroca, Jio Jalalon, and Paul Lee for the combo guard sports. Chris Newsome and CJ Perez are also players to note. I don’t know who fits Tim Cone’s system (BARROCA!!!) but he needs to have players that Brownlee would respect and at the same time, can give the ball to June Mar in the post.
Now, June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar are going to do this by themselves especially with Jamie Malonzo injured and AJ Edu and Kai Sotto returning to their respective Japanese teams. The problem is, I don’t know the players that would look good in the international setting other than Troy Rosario and Calvin Oftana, especially with Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser injured.
Perhaps Justin Arana?
But this is the next problem for Tim Cone’s squad. I don’t know if this calling out was staged but Cone forcing Justine Baltazar to consider a Gilas call prompted the former DLSU Green Archer as well as Converge and Pampanga Giant Lanterns honcho Delta Pineda to react. I think Cone knows what he was doing when he did this... and I think Pineda has no choice but to give Baltazar to Gilas. I have seen the reasons why Baltazar was MIA about his Gilas duties and he’s not going to react this way if his travel documents are still an issue.
But Gilas needs to tread lightly because they can’t piss Pineda to the point of him caring less instead of showering the team with his resources. Aside from Baltazar and Arana, Converge has a lot of young guns in Jeron Teng, Jeo Ambohot, Mike Nieto, and Maverick Ahanmisi (though still unsigned). Moreover, Pineda has in some ways, influenced other Pampanga-born stars like Calvin Abueva, Ian Sangalang, Arwind Santos, Javee Mocon, and even Jayson Castro for that matter. I am not saying that they’ll snub Cone but it’s better for Gilas to unite all the basketball people in the country. Abueva, his new and improved version, is something that Cone could exploit. Ever since his “maturity,” he has been known for doing what he does best… sans the drama. If Abueva keeps his head on the game, he’s going to be awesome.
But with that said, I bet he’s going to get the Dillon Brooks treatment there.
And speaking of basketball prodigies, one of the reasons why we held the 2023 FIBA World Cup back then was to introduce our players to the world. While right now, the world got the taste of Edu, Kai Sotto, and Rhenz Abando, back in 2019, it was Kobe Paras. I read online that he is currently enjoying his free-agent status but maybe he needs to ditch the international leagues, apply to the PBA, and get his feet wet via the Asian Games. Kobe is a 6’6 scorer extraordinaire with his Dad’s (and bro’s) penchant for hunting down the rebounds.
Kemark Carino is another name that could pop up... although I don't know where he is currently playing at the moment.
If we look at the young guns of the league, they will have a problem because, at this point, the NCAA and the UAAP are already ongoing. I guess the only viable options for me left in the PBA apart from June Mar, Scottie, Japeth, Newsome, Rosario, Oftana, and the other names above are Phoenix’s Jason Perkins, San Miguel’s Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross, Meralco’s Cliff Hodge, NLEX’s Don Trollano and Kevin Alas, and Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood.
Does this look wacky?
Oh my goodness, yes!
Again, this is the problem when your best players are playing in leagues north of the country, the lack of development in the PBA because half of the teams are farm teams, and there are too many cooks spoiling our Gilas Pilipinas broth!
And I haven’t talked about the goddamn two-week window!
It’s not like Tim Cone is going to use his triangle offense with his ragtag squad. That offense has evolved since moving to Ginebra and the fact of the matter is, that is a difficult system to embrace, given the tight preparation stage. Also, how can this team mesh as one? When the PBA did their PBA On Tour mini-tourney, we saw how teams like Ginebra struggled when they ran their plays with the 3X3 guys and how teams like Converge used this to make their team invincible.
I guess Gilas can train with the other PBA teams but it’s not like they are going to win… at least with two-thirds of the team still in talks.
As mentioned in my other blog, Chot Reyes went petty when he stepped down as Gilas coach and it’s funny how everyone is rejoicing. Coach Chot did well with a ball-dominant player who trusted his teammates in the latter part of the tourney. I know he is emotional… emotional… but just take in comparison how we thought in 2023 to how we perceived our squad in 2019. So when he got the chance to free himself up from all the bullying, he also placed the next coach in a tough spot. While it’s unfortunate that Cone is thrust into this position, it’s not that big of a change since he designed the plays for the team.
Clarkson with the ball with Edu and Sotto is Cone’s Ginebra system with Brownlee as the point forward and Japeth and Christian Standhardinger as the bigs.
Again, there is no chance in hell that Chot would snub Cone and Uichico!
Also, the same problems we have might be the same problem in Korea, Japan, and China.
So with this in mind, Cone’s biggest problem is probably what his team would comprise. With Alfrancis Chua as director, his SMC boys will be a given—Ditto for the MVP team. But the question is, what team can they form this deep in the preparation?
The last time Cone coached an Asian Games team, his Centennial Dream Team was stunned by Korea because they prepared for the Chinese but not for them. Cone is probably thinking of vengeance from the Far East teams and the root for his revenge is perhaps because he had to take over the Gilas team with his preferred players playing in their country.