CHICAGO - Here we go again, sifting through the wreckage of another doomed Gilas Pilipinas campaign, this time at the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.
Sadly for us basketball-crazy Filipinos, this ritual of disappointment has become routine, a vicious cycle that repeats itself through almost every FIBA window.
Sadder still is the fact that coach Tim Cone is "reluctant" to pull the trigger on meaningful changes to a roster that is aging and has more holes than a golf course.
READ Cone reluctant on roster changes, says Kai 'a big missing piece'
Cone's hesitation, to me, is bordering on stubborn.
We need an expanded pool not only for injury cover but for intensive preparation and practices. Passing up once-a-week flings in Laguna every Monday as training sessions is laughable.
After losing to No.73 Chinese-Taipei and barely beating No.65 Saudi Arabia, Gilas' No. 34 ranking is in peril of dropping by mid-September when the new list comes out.
THIS WHOLE MESS IS NOT ENTIRELY CONE'S FAULT.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) decided that the national team would adopt the triangle offense by selecting Tim Cone irrespective of the available talent pool.
Naturally, the Ginebra coach selected the best players he thought would best fit the triangle.
This seems like a backward ideology.
The SBP should have chosen the best talents available and then searched for a coach that would cater to the strengths of the elite selection. That's how other national teams do it and it's working.
The failure to do that is a huge reason why Jordan Heading, Justin Baltazar, Ray Parks, SJ Belangel and Robert Bolick were not in the mix.
When Justin Brownlee exits our national team at the time of his choosing, the SBP should consider a naturalized player that is a great defender and rebounder to complement the locals.
DITCH THE TRIANGLE?
The Australians made Brownlee look relatively average, holding him to 10 points on 11 field goals. Looking average never happens to a great defender and rebounder.
I'm not opposed to the triangle but there are other offensive systems such as pace and space, continuous ball screens and a half-court slow down set that can be successful and PBA players can adapt more easily than the complexities of a triangle.
I don't worship at the altar of Ginebra but I do like coach Tim. Which is why I say with enormous trepidation that the Australia match was far from his best work.
Gilas' ball screen defense against the Boomers was atrocious, it was like shooting targets at a gun range. The Aussies could have easily laid 100 on us but they eased on the pedal late in the fourth quarter.
The acid test of a good coach is to thrive against adverse conditions while playing against a superior squad. By not even coming anywhere close to a chance of winning in a 20-point loss, Cone didn't pass the muster.
But tomorrow is a new day, a new hope.
Unless the SBP wants to continue seeing the same wreck over and over again, roster changes are a must, not an option.
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