Since Tim Cone took the helm of Gilas Pilipinas Men, he has emphasized the importance of continuity, growth, and consistency throughout his 15-man pool.
This mindset has paid off for the Philippines, who swept the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers with back-to-back wins over New Zealand and Hong Kong on home turf.
With these victories, Gilas inched closer to securing a spot in the Asia Cup, which will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, next August.
Despite the recent success and the fact that the Philippines has already secured its place in the biennial continental tournament, Cone is not keen on adding more players to Gilas’ 15-man pool moving forward.
“That’s something that we’re going to assess. I am less likely to want to increase the pool. I think the more you increase the pool, the more teaching you have to do,” said the 25-time PBA champion in the post-game press conference following Gilas’ 93-54 rout of Hong Kong on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“If you can keep a core going all the time and really focus on that core, keep it a tight group, that core is going to get better. If you start expanding the pool, you have to go back to zero and start teaching everything over again,” he added.
“If you bring 20 guys in, you have to teach 20 guys how to do things in a span of four or five days, and it gets really hard. It’s better if we tighten up.”
However, Cone acknowledged that there are still adjustments to be made to further solidify Gilas Pilipinas’ seeding for the Asia Cup.
Whether it involves changes to the roster, the coaching staff, or the system, Cone emphasized that every aspect would be evaluated to maintain the Philippines’ flawless run through the Asia Cup qualifiers.
Although changes within the Philippines’ men’s national basketball team have been minimal in recent months, significant shifts have occurred in other areas of the program, with Ginebra guard LA Tenorio appointed as Gilas Youth head coach and Alfrancis Chua named as Gilas team manager.
“Everything is going to be assessed: the coaching staff is going to be assessed, the players are going to be assessed, everything is going to be assessed by year-end,” he opined.
“But that doesn’t mean we don’t make a tweak here and there—personnel-wise, system-wise—we could very easily make a tweak from here and there, anything that can make us better moving forward.”
