GILAS Pilipinas is now charting its plans on how to prepare for the oncoming FIBA Asia Cup 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Head coach Tim Cone explained that as of now, Gilas will only be getting a week of practice time for the Asia Cup with the PBA finishing its 49th season around the last week of July.
But Cone is hoping to get more days of preparation, and even perhaps doing so while the PBA season is ongoing. He even suggested reviving the once-a-week Monday practices that were previously done during the time of Chot Reyes and his first stint as Philippine team shot-caller.
“The key is really the preparation time and how much time we have to prepare,” Cone said. “Right now, we are trying to figure things out. The PBA finishes on the 27th (of July). That would make 28 or 29 our first practice day and we play on the 5th (of August). That’s like six days including travel to get there.”
Gilas' outlook for continental meet
Gilas is out to compete in another continental tournament following its gold medal victory in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2023.
The Philippines is scheduled to face New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, and Iraq when the FIBA Asia Cup gets going starting August 5 until August 17.
READ: Cone: 'We know how well we need to play to beat New Zealand'
The race to the gold this time, will be a lot tougher with Oceania team Australia also in the mix, as it will be eyeing a third straight Asia Cup crown, as well as New Zealand, rated No. 22 in the world.
Cone admitted there are invitations to play friendly matches in the lead-up to the Asian meet, but for him, practice time is much more important.
“What we need is practice time, because games and friendlies are great, but you’re learning on the fly, we need practice time. We will figure out. Maybe there’s some Mondays that we can play [practice]. I don’t know. Whatever we can do. We are going to explore all options,” said Cone.
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