Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone during the Inquirer Sports’ Awards Night dinner. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Coach Tim Cone is a realist.
Instead of promising a dominant future with Gilas Pilipinas as its permanent coach, Cone made it a point to emphasize the reality.
The reality is, not one basketball team can win and win without losing.
READ: Next schedule for Gilas after Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers first window
“I think there’s a certain reality to everything. You’re not going to win every basketball game. No team wins every game. Even the great Chicago Bulls in the 90’s won 70 games and lost 12. That Golden State Warriors, that great dynastic team, lost their shares of game,” said Cone at Newport City during the Inquirer Sports’ Awards Night.
“You’re not going to win all the time. There’s going to be ups and downs but I think if we can compete and show we’re getting better, I think the fans will take the ride with us.”
It certainly seems like there’s much to be expected for the national team under Cone.
READ: Tim Cone starts training for Gilas next phase starting at 43-point lead
Since the end of the Fiba World Cup 2023, where Gilas only logged one win in the global competition at the expense of China, it’s been quite the rosy run for the Philippines under the long-time Ginebra coach.
For one, the Filipinos won a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games, a feat that earned Cone the Inquirer Sports Best Performance by a coach plum and many more.
Gilas Pilipinas members wave to the crowd after their win over home team Hong Kong in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers. –FIBA PHOTO
Then Gilas swept Group B in the first window of the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers (ACQ) after Cone was permanently named to the post.
But the job is very far from over if we’re basing it on Cone’s goal of seeing Gilas on the Olympic stage.
That job will continue in a few months in Latvia for the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) and the second window of the Asian Cup qualifiers which starts in November.
READ: Tim Cone reminds Gilas to stay focused for long haul
Cone knows the following Gilas campaigns can’t be described with promises.
What the legendary coach can assure, though, is the fact that the Philippines will fight and the team will do it to make the countrymen proud.
“I can’t guarantee that we’ll win every game but I think we’re going to compete, and represent well and I think we have a chance to make them proud of us.”