Forcing OT vs Georgia wasn’t an option for Gilas, says Tim Cone

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone’ after the Philippines’ loss to Georgia in the Fiba OQT group phase. –FIBA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone said he didn’t want to risk going overtime against Georgia to try and salvage a win even with the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) semifinal berth secured.

When Gilas trailed Georgia, 93-96, with 14 seconds remaining, Cone called a timeout and decided with his coaching staff not to force extra regulation. The Filipinos then milked the clock before Chris Newsome drew a foul from Giorgi Ochkhikidze with 2.8 ticks left.

Newsome made his first shot but missed the second with Goga Bitadze even attempting to score off the putback in a bizarre move. Georgia won over Gilas, 96-94, but didn’t qualify for the next round, failing to win by 19 points.

LIVE UPDATES: Gilas Pilipinas vs Brazil Fiba OQT semifinals

“We couldn’t go into overtime. We had an opportunity to shoot a three at the end to try and get us into overtime and play,” Cone said after the loss. “We just felt we didn’t want to give them an opportunity to try to extend the lead in overtime.” 

Cone, however, took the blame for Bitadze’s final attempt to force overtime.

“He missed a dunk follow-up, that was a bad coaching decision on my part. I should’ve had Newsome hold the ball and not even shoot that second free throw and get a violation,” Cone said. “That would’ve been a smart move. I blanked out and did not think about it. We were lucky we didn’t go into overtime.”

READ: Tim Cone says Gilas star Justin Brownlee ‘should be in the NBA’

Despite losing and finishing Group A with a 1-1 record, Cone is grateful to make it to the semifinal against Brazil on Saturday, inching two wins closer to the Paris Olympics.

“It’s the first time I felt good about losing and I just want to compliment our guys… they went down 20 and it could have been an easy panic time and they worked their way back into the game,” said Cone lauding his wards’ comeback from a sluggish first half.

“One little streak here or there, we could’ve been down by 30 and we’re going home, using those [flight] tickets we have for tomorrow. But they really showed their resilience.”