Gilas Pilipinas’ 30th Southeast Asian Games opener versus Singapore on Wednesday night marked the return of coach Tim Cone to the international stage after 21 long years.
Cone was the chief bench strategist of the PBA-backed Centennial Team in 1998. The multi-decorated mentor relished his comeback, saying that he’s now smarter than two decades ago.
“I like to think that I’m a little bit older — I am older — but I’d like to think I’m a little bit wiser, maybe a little bit smarter than I was back in 1998,” said Cone after their 110-58 annihilation of the Singaporeans.
“I obviously got more experience, and I’ve grown as a coach.”
Cone said that he has learned many lessons since his first time with the national team, such as not taking things for granted, which he admitted he did back in 1998.
That Centennial Team he handled had the task of helping the Philippines regain supremacy in Asian basketball by bagging gold in the Asian Games of that year, in Thailand.
The Filipino dribblers appeared on their way to accomplishing their mission. They had swept Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in the eliminations, then beaten UAE and the hosts in the quarterfinals.
They saw their streak busted by South Korea, however, also in the quarters. They had an opportunity to bounce back, but they lost again to China and that semis loss stung plenty.
The Philippines eventually settled for the bronze medal after winning over the Kazakhs. Still, it was mission failed.
“We were playing China and we were playing Korea. I’m not sure we were really the underdogs, although China was really the team to beat, but we believed that we can beat Korea,” recalled Cone.
“I didn’t cross all my T’s and dot my I’s because I allowed Korea to step in and beat us up. I kind of took them for granted thinking about China,” added the Barangay Ginebra coach.
So now in the SEA Games, where the Philippines is gunning for its 18th gold in men’s basketball, Cone aims to apply all that he has learned since so that he won’t commit the same mistake again.
“I kind of lean on that experience of not taking anything for granted, making sure we’re dotting all of our I’s and crossing our T’s and leaving no stone unturned, and every other clichè you want to use,” he said.
“That’s the approach we’re trying to take. I don’t think I did that back in ’98. I think I took things for granted. We don’t want to take anything for granted this time around.”
