Tim Cone had a plan heading into Window 4 of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the 20th Asian Games.
He split Gilas Pilipinas into two groups, with the main pool playing in the qualifiers’ home games against Syria and Iran, while an all-PBA squad competed in Aichi.
The only crossovers between the two groups were RJ Abarrientos, Justine Baltazar, and Justin Arana.
While the “A-Team” went on to sweep Window 4 and revive the country’s hopes of making it to another World Cup, the other squad floundered in the Asian Games, finishing ninth — the country’s worst result in the continental meet.
“Not sure what to say. Deeply disappointed we couldn’t get to the quarters,” Cone lamented.
The Asiad team also did not have the luxury of calling on several of the country’s international stars. AJ Edu, Dwight Ramos, Mike Phillips, and Quentin Millora-Brown were already in Japan with their B.League clubs. Meanwhile, Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao had likewise traveled to South Korea to train with their respective KBL squads.
Kai Sotto, on the other hand, is still looking for a team to sign him.
The Asian Games does not fall under the FIBA window.
“But it’s a reminder for us that if we don’t or can’t bring our best players to these international events, we won’t excel. We brought some really good players, but we didn’t bring our best players. It would have been nice to have Kai, AJ, Q, Mike Phillips, Dwight, KQ, Carl, and the like, but they weren’t permitted to come by their mother teams,” Cone lamented.
Gilas opened its campaign with an 85–89 loss to Bahrain, which had four naturalized players.
“We would have liked Justin and Bennie, or even Jordan Clarkson, but none were available. It’s not an easy process to naturalize players like it is in other countries. Even June Mar (Fajardo) would have made an impact,” Cone continued.
The Philippines bounced back with a 109-78 rout of Kazakhstan to keep its title-defense hopes alive.
However, by then, the campaign had become a numbers game.
Gilas needed to either beat China or lose by no more than 38 points to have a chance of advancing, while also needing Jordan or Saudi Arabia to be among the two best third-placed teams across the three pools.
But it was not meant to be.
China exacted revenge on the Philippines for its semifinal loss three years ago, crushing Gilas, 61–105, to dethrone the defending champions. Still, Cone remained proud of the all-PBA squad for the fight it showed throughout the tournament.
“But, hey, the guys we had played their hearts out. We were just undersized by the other teams. But they were a great group of guys who loved playing for their country,” he said.
“It wasn’t their fault that we couldn’t add size to the roster to help them out. They gave it their all.”
