Dwight Ramos has been a perfect fit for Tim Cone’s Gilas Pilipinas system, which requires big guards on defense. —FIBA. BASKETBALL
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone revealed his fondness for size—particularly in the backcourt—stems from his dislike for getting “overwhelmed defensively,” but says he won’t close the door on diminutive guards earning spots on the national team.
“I’m just a little bit different that I look at defensive matchups first. I like big guards so I don’t get overwhelmed defensively. And that’s important to me as it’s just my system—the way I coach and the way I see the game,” Cone told reporters on Monday.
“If you asked [former Gilas coach] Chot Reyes, he wouldn’t demand big guards as he likes speed and the open court. If you ask most coaches, I think they’re gonna be that way,” Cone added.
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Cone has enough size in his current pool. In the recently concluded Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Latvia, the Philippines fielded a tall squad that featured 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto at the five, 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo playing forward and 6-foot-4 Dwight Ramos and 6-foot-2 Chris Newsome manning the backcourt.
Such a composition resulted in a win over World No. 6 and host Latvia, and a narrow loss to 23rd-ranked Georgia.
“That’s why [we got] a Newsome, a Dwight Ramos,” Cone went on. “Other guys, like Matthew Wright, would’ve been great for us—[or] some guys who can play guard and transition back and be bigger, which we saw in Dwight.”
Cone pointed out that Scottie Thompson and CJ Perez were exceptions as their skill offset their lack of height. The Ginebra guard, according to the seasoned mentor, “plays much bigger even if he’s 6-foot-1” and can get up the floor on top of unique strength. San Miguel’s Perez, meanwhile, is athletically gifted that he rarely looks outmatched against taller opponents. But Cone noted how small guards could prove a game changer even on the world stage.
“You saw Brazil. Brazil had that 5’9,” 5’10” guard that really gave us problems, using speed and quickness,” he said, referring to the Carioca Yago Santos, who had eight points against the Philippines during their semifinal encounter that eventually had Gilas packing.
Which is why the Grand Slam mentor might eventually pick a small playmaker for national team duty.
“I’m not ruling it out. We could easily have that—like that Brazil guard who came off the bench. He’s like a spark for them. And that’s something we could do. We could bring in a guy and give him his moments off the bench to lift the team. I can envision that, but I just don’t see it at the moment.”
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Cone’s words couldn’t be more timely, especially after drafting 5-foot-11 guard RJ Abarrientos for PBA club Barangay Ginebra in Sunday’s Rookie Draft. The latter is shaping up as a cinch to become a national team reserve, especially considering his Gilas and international experience at just 24 years old.
Cone had since said that such a scenario would be “a long ways away,” but he also hinted that a lot could happen in the next few years leading up to the main goal, which is returning to the Fiba World Cup and making the Olympic Games that will be held in Los Angeles.
“[Y]ou never know. I said that the 12 guys we have now, the way the team is now could be different 3 or four years from now. Every team evolves, changes and gets better. So, hopefully, we do that with this team,” Cone said.
“But even though you evolve and get better, you still have an internal core that you keep together,” he added. “I don’t see us changing Kai, and Carl (Tamayo) and Kevin (Quiambo) and all those young guys [like] Dwight.”