‘Shattered’ Fiba OQT dream a very good start-off point for Gilas

Tim Cone and Gilas Pilipinas end their Fiba OQT campaign with their heads held high despite falling short of advancing to the final. –FIBA PHOTO

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone has never been a fan of moral victories nor of being reminded how close he and his crew came to achieving something.

But shortly after the loss to Brazil in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) that dashed the Philippines’ hopes of making it to the Paris Olympics, the seasoned mentor decided to put things the way they should be looked at.

“I told the players after the game, ‘Guys, it was the single most disappointing loss I’ve ever had. We all had dreams and it’s tough when they are shattered,’” he recalled in a chat with the Inquirer.

READ: Tim Cone open to possibility of expanding Gilas  Pilipinas pool

“’But if we put this in the proper perspective, it feels like such a bad ending, but it is in fact a very good beginning,’” he said.

That campaign in Riga, Latvia, was fruitless as far as results are concerned, but it manufactured belief that the Philippines is on its way back to becoming a serious presence on the world stage.

After reclaiming the Asian Games gold, the Philippines then proved it could contend with European teams. In the OQT, the Nationals, led by Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo and Dwight Ramos, methodically beat the World No. 6 Latvians before coming back from double-digit holes and losing to No. 23-ranked Georgia by two points.

Gilas proved that it wasn’t a fluke in Latvia, battling—and even leading—Brazil on even terms in an eventual 71-60 semifinal defeat.

Nest assignment

Cone told his squad, which also features Chris Newsome, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Japeth Aguilar, and youngsters Kai Sotto, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, and Mason Amos, that they have many more milestones to hit should they stay the course, with the next big test being the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers, set to be held in Manila this November.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas’ Olympic dream ends, bows out of Fiba OQT with loss to Brazil

There, the Nationals will be hosting Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, and Cone knows there are plenty of scenarios that could unfold until those two matches—among them whether or not Scottie Thompson (back), AJ Edu (knee), and Jamie Malonzo (foot) will be fit enough to return for duty.

And there’s also the ever-continuing quest of whetting this basketball-crazed nation’s appetite for success.

“They want production now,” Cone said of Filipinos in a separate television interview. “[But] that’s always been our mentality, and that’s what we’re trying to bring. We’re trying to have a development team with younger players the Kais, the Carls, the Kevins, the Masons. Even Dwight’s still a young guy. Those are the guys who are helping develop the team over a period of time.

“But there are also veterans with June Mar, and Justin himself, Newsome. Those guys are the guys who are going to help us win now,” he added.

“And I think there’s gonna be a balance in development and winning now to basically satisfy the powers that be and the fans—the countrymen—who support the team.”

Cone, before sending his charges to their well-deserved breaks, also reminded them of a mantra he holds dear.

“We have mountains to conquer together. And I hope all of you will still want to be a part of the journey [as] one is too small of a number to achieve greatness. We will do this together,” he said.