Scottie Thompson is Coach Tim Cone’s go-to point guard, whether for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel or Gilas Pilipinas — but that wasn’t the case tonight.
As the seasoned coach explained, this is simply how things work in the national team. In Thompson’s place, CJ Perez came into the starting lineup, a move that Cone said was intentional.
“We matched up the way we wanted to match up. We wanted CJ to get out early on [Taylor] Britt. He’s been killing us in the past,” he said.
And if Britt’s stats are any indication, Cone’s strategy worked. The long-time Tall Black point guard — who averaged 15.0 points in the Asia Cup — managed only five points, shooting a poor 2-for-9 from the field.
“I thought we schemed him well. The guys executed the scheme really, really well, and we liked CJ’s athleticism and speed against him to start the basketball game, and it proved right. I thought from the very start of the game we kept him unbalanced.”
The Philippines’ defensive schemes also forced Britt into six turnovers — the most by any New Zealander tonight.
“You can close your eyes and put all their names into a hat and pull guys out of the hat and say, ‘Hey, this is going to be a good starting lineup,’ you know?” Cone quipped.
This is just one example of the challenges the Gilas head coach faces when deciding lineups and rotations, which often have to adjust depending on the opponent.
“One of the hardest things for me as a coach is deciding who’s gonna start, and then what the rotations come into the game. Hopefully, you make arrangements for that before the game, but by halftime or third quarter, now you’re trying to play the game by feel and who’s been playing well,” he opined.
“Those questions are constantly going on, so there’s nothing fixed with a team like this.”
Cone also discussed Carl Tamayo, who saw only five minutes of action in the Philippines’ 66-69 loss in tonight’s FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers game.
“There’s no fixed lineups, there’s no fixed substitutions. We have the opportunity to put a really good player and another really good player all the way through the lineup, ” Cone continued. “Carl didn’t get too many minutes tonight, but with a lot of guys playing heavier minutes, we think he’s gonna be a better matchup for Australia, with their size.
“You may not see them so much this game, but you might see them more next game, and that’s just the way that it is with the national team.”
#WATCH: THAT HAPPENED FOR THE DAY 🇵🇭
Tim Cone explains why Scottie Thompson played limited minutes for Gilas against the Tall Blacks 🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/VzOnALd32J
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