In his return as an assistant coach with Gilas, Tim Cone was welcomed by a roster that had no shortage of talent for the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
Led by Jordan Clarkson and Kai Sotto, the Nationals split their games as they bowed to Lebanon with an 81-85 defeat in Beirut before getting an 84-46 win over Saudi Arabia at home.
Despite the mixed bag of results, Cone continued to speak highly about the current group and shared how the addition of more versatile and athletic players has benefited the team on both ends of the floor.
“And I think the thing that impresses me the most about this team that we put together this time… number one is athleticism from point guard to big man, it’s a team of athletes,” the decorated tactician claimed on Radyo5’s Power and Play with Noli Eala.
“They have really good size at the point guard position in terms of Scottie [Thompson] and Chris Newsome, those guys can defend up and a lot of times these guys have been great players.”
In previous years, Gilas had the luxury of having solid playmakers with the likes of Jimmy Alapag and LA Tenorio manning the backcourt. However, Cone bared that the size of the players in their current group gave them a different advantage as it allowed them to keep in step with the bigger guards of the opposing teams.
“Jimmy Alapag was a great player, LA [Tenorio] was a great player, these guys are great players but they’re undersized at that position. Scottie and Chris bring us a kinda different level to the team in terms of what they can do defensively. And that’s really more their role, they don’t need to score,” he shared.
Having a scorer like Clarkson on board also gave the team an added lift as they had someone who can take most of the load on offense and create scoring opportunities. In two games played, the 2021 NBA Sixth Man of the Year normed 25.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in 32.7 minutes of action.
With Clarkson’s presence on the floor, Cone shared how the other players needed to step up, especially on the defensive side in order for them to make things work.
“They’ve got JC next to them. They’ve got to figure out a way to get the ball to JC, and then they’ve got to go out and defend for JC. So I thought that was really well put together. I thought Chot did a really good job putting that part together,” he continued.
Despite the level of talent on the roster, the 24-time PBA champion coach still believes that they could’ve benefited from having a couple more players at their disposal.
With a glaring need for size in the paint, June Mar Fajardo was poised to play a crucial role in this window, especially against a Lebanon team that has its tallest player listed at 6-foot-9.
The six-time PBA MVP was initially part of the 24-man pool for the fourth window but wasn’t able to suit up for Gilas as the San Miguel Beermen advanced to the Finals of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup.
“I think the obvious one is June Mar. If June Mar had been on that team then you know, hands down that would have given us a definite post presence that we could have gone to. Coach Chot [Reyes] talked about him a lot, what we could have done with him in terms of, I don’t think there was anyone on the Lebanese team that could have handled June Mar down low,” he said.
According to Cone, having Fajardo in the middle could’ve been a game changer for the team as Gilas just narrowly lost to the Cedars in front of a packed Lebanese crowd.
“Whether June Mar could dominate against a Serbian team or a US team, that’s another question, but again, at the Asian level, playing against Lebanon, I think he would have dominated,” the 64-year-old mentor added.
“There would be a time when everyone is just allowed to dump the ball to him, spread the floor, let him go to work, let him find the shooters as he does with San Miguel. No doubt.”
Cone also shared that having wingmen who can space the floor and shoot from long distance could’ve been an added boost for the team. In fact, Matthew Wright was one of the names being considered but was unavailable to play for Gilas in the fourth window.
“I think adding a shooter or two like Matthew Wright, would be ideal if that’s possible. We asked Matthew if he could come play with us but he was unavailable at this time. But obviously, he said he’s available for other ones. Another shooter on the floor would be nice.”
With the 2023 FIBA World Cup looming on the horizon, Cone pointed out that they will continue to look for pieces that can complement the core that they are expecting to field in the big event. The next two windows set to be staged in November and February will give the coaches a good glimpse of who to include on the final roster a year from now.
“And I think that this is not a revolving door, but an evolving door. The team will evolve as it starts to grow. You might change a piece here or there, and we made that very clear,” he continued.
“Coach Chot has made that very clear that there might be a piece here or there that might be interchangeable and you might bring two or three different guys for this window as opposed to the next window as you try to consolidate the team that you want to have going into the World Cup, but the bottom line is there is a core there that is going to be unchangeable. That will allow the core to grow for the next year.”
And by the time comes, Cone believes that the different stakeholders involved will be all-hands-on-deck as they try to field the best team possible for the Worlds.
“I think those guys will be recognizable. I think they will be on call,” he claimed.
“Soon as we say, ‘hey, we need these guys’, I think the PBA and powers-that-be will snap their fingers and allow these guys to be there for us.”
