AMIDST the bashing Gilas Pilipinas had gotten in light of its 91-84 loss to Chinese Taipei, Tim Cone spared the team and assumed responsibility for the county's very first setback in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
READ: Chinese Taipei endures Brownlee's 39 points to beat Gilas in thriller
The 67-year-old coach admitted he should have prepared the nationals better against a retooled Chinese Taipei side that featured nine new players on its roster, including 7-foot naturalized player Brandon Gilbeck.
"No one feels worse about this devastating loss than I do, and I take full responsibility of it," said Cone on his X account the morning after the loss at the Taipei Heiping basketball gymnasium.
"We knew they were going to be much improved from the last time we played them, but they were even better than we thought. That's on me. No doubt, I should have prepared us better."
READ: Resurgent Chinese Taipei leaves Cone, Brownlee 'very impressed'
Gilas cruised past Chinese Taipei in their initial encounter in the Asia Cup qualifiers, 106-53, last year.
But only three players were left from that Chinese Taipei team, as it paraded a retooled roster bannered by Gilbeck and Mohammad Al Gadlaga.
The home team punished the Filipinos by burying a total of 15 three-pointers behind the guns of Gadlaga, Ting-Chien Lin, and Chun Hsiang Lu.
The Filipinos also committed 10 more turnovers against the Taiwanese, 17-7, including five by Justin Brownlee.
Onto the next for Gilas
Netizens were also surprised Cone relied on a short rotation and didn't play Kevin Quiambao, Japeth Aguilar, and Jamie Malonzo, while also sparingly using Carl Tamayo and CJ Perez.
Cone again took responsibility for it.
"There is obviously a lot that I would have done differently in that game if given another chance, but that is not possible now," he said
"Only thing we can do at this point is move on. I will be better. We will be better."
The loss by the Philippines coupled with New Zealand's 92-51 thrashing of Hong Kong has the two countries now sharing the top spot in Group B, both with 4-1 records.
The Filipinos now travel to Auckland and face the Tall Blacks on Sunday for the top spot in their bracket going to the Asia Cup tournament proper in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this August.
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