Gilas Pilipinas picks up Middle Eastern lessons in Doha
AJ Edu (No. 34) came through with a lot of smart plays as he filled in for the absent Kai Sotto. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ ANAS AL-OMARI, JORDAN BASKETBALL FEDERATION
The Gilas Pilipinas program used to enjoy some kind of proficiency against a certain opponent in the past. But with a new system in place, and over half of its players now replaced by younger ones, a pressing need for tweaks has come to the fore.
And that’s what national coach Tim Cone is hoping to do in Qatar, just before the Nationals put the finishing touches on their preparations for the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers campaign in Chinese Taipei and New Zealand next week.
“Chot’s [Reyes] group—they’ve played a lot of Middle Eastern teams. They’ve played the likes of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. They’ve played Lebanon, played Syria. But this team? We haven’t played a Middle Eastern team yet,” Cone said days before the Philippine contingent flew for the four-nation showpiece in Doha.
“[The players now] haven’t gotten a feel for their style,” the seasoned mentor went on. “We’ve played European, we’ve played South American, but we haven’t played Middle Eastern. So this will be a part of the preparations.”
Under Cone as head coach, Gilas has only played a total of eight nations. The Nationals battled Hong Kong, Chinese-Taipei, and New Zealand in the Asia Cup qualifiers before tackling Turkey and Poland ahead of the Olympic Qualifiers in Riga, Latvia, where they competed against the hosts, Georgia, and then Brazil.
Ace playmaker out
Gilas was off to a rousing start on Saturday (Manila time) after nipping the host Qatar, 74-71. They battled a higher-ranked Lebanon just before Sunday midnight, hoping to make it two against the Middle Eastern lot, and, hopefully, world No. 38 Egypt.
The Cedars are without star playmaker Wael Arakji, who punished the old Gilas squads coached by Reyes and, at one point, led by Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson.
Justin Brownlee, to nobody’s surprise, led the charge in the final period, where the Nationals wiggled out of an eight-point rut. AJ Edu, who finally made his debut under the Cone-led program, was just as key, paving the way for Brownlee and Dwight Ramos’ finishing kick in front of a thick crowd at Qatar University.
Ramos had 15 points, June Mar Fajardo 12, while Brownlee and Scottie Thompson had 10 each. Edu delivered six points and 10 boards, announcing his return at a time when Gilas is missing the recovering Kai Sotto.
“I don’t know, honestly, how long our [preparations]we’ll have in the Fiba Asia in August. I don’t know. My understanding now is it’s gonna be five days. That’s not gonna be much time to prep for that, [and] that’s why we decided to do Doha. This whole trip—including Taiwan and New Zealand—is all prep for Fiba Asia,” Cone said.
“Playing three games in a row is what we’re gonna do in Fiba Asia. I know we’ll be playing in the Middle East—in that kind of weather. So these are things we’re gonna help us prepare when we [go to] battle,” he added.
Gilas will be going up against regional powerhouses in Jeddah. Also qualified for the tournament are Lebanon, Jordan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
