CHICAGO - Too much Elijah Pepper mixed with a salty defense turned out to be a dangerous concoction.
Australia 93. Gilas Pilipinas 66.
In the wake of that horrifying, arena crowd emptying 27-point rout on Sunday night, coach Tim Cone apparently had a come to Jesus moment.
After Gilas threw bricks all over the MoA Arena, 9-of-31 from 3 (29 percent) and 22-of-63 overall (34.9 percent), SPIN.ph reported that changes in the offense are being mulled.
READ: Cone looking to change up offense after Gilas misfires again
It’s about time.
Cone’s preferred triple-post offense is obsolete, rarely used in full, and rotting on its death bed.
OUTDATED.
It’s a scheme that is complex and difficult to learn, let alone master.
And when Gilas misfires catastrophically as they did against the Boomers, the triangle crashes into a broken geometry that is not worth the trouble.
It works with Ginebra because they have conferences worth of live games to run it but with non-Ginebra players in the national team — QMB, JGdL, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, Chris Newsome, CJ Perez and AJ Edu — there’s not enough exposure to successfully implement it.
The triangle requires a team of scorers, not a team that relies primarily on one scorer, which was the case last night when Justin Brownlee fired 20 and no one else helped except 11 points from QMB.
In an age where other programs have turned to hybrid SUVs a .a transport to success, it’s insane to insist on commuting on a broken down, gas-guzzling old car that emits the black smoke of ineffective play.
GETTING LEFT BEHIND.
Free flow. Sharing. Spacing. Those are basketball’s modern tenets that Gilas needs to adapt to.
Australia bristled with manpower might. They were tall, big, cohesive and efficient with their barrage of 3s.
Gilas, on the other hand, missed out on Kai Sotto, almost lost QMB to a contract disagreement, and assembled for just ten days.
Obviously, there are bigger issues such as lack of preparation time and the absence of a driven development program focused on international basketball.
Cone needs to boot the triangle while the SBP needs to reboot its approach.
Easier said than done.
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