GILAS Pilipinas coach Tim Cone wants the ultimate goal of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas of qualifying in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to become a reality.
Cone said the SBP had indicated to him its four-year program that would hopefully end with Gilas Pilipinas competing in the Olympics for the first time since 1972.
To qualify for the Olympics, Gilas Pilipinas must first earn a berth in the Fiba Basketball World Cup in 2027 which it will now have to earn since Qatar will serve as the host. The Philippines gained an automatic berth in the World Cup for hosting the tournament last year.
In the World Cup, the Philippines must become the best-ranked team in Asia to clinch an Olympic berth.
“The ultimate goal for the SBP is to make it to the LA Olympics,” said Cone on Saturday during the Power and Play radio program of Noli Eala. “I think that’s the ultimate goal. That’s what they are looking for.”
Though SBP has lined up a four-year program, Cone said his term as Gilas coach is year-to-year. He has put together a 12-man team that he intends to keep for the next four years, but is open to minor tweaks throughout the build-up.
Part of the build-up for the long term is the coming first window of the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers where Gilas Pilipinas will face Hong Kong on February 22 and Chinese Taipei on February 25.
“But ultimately, in the fourth year, we want to be playing in the Qatar World Cup. We have to qualify first but we want to be playing in the Qatar World Cup and we want to be finishing first in Asia, and get that berth in the LA Olympics. That’s been clear to me. That’s the goal of the SBP,” said Cone.
Though the long-term goal is the LA Olympics, Cone said Gilas will still do its best to reach this year’s Paris Olympics through the Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be played in Riga, Latvia this July despite the difficult task at hand.
“We are going to the qualifier in July. We have an opportunity to qualify. It’s going to be a tough, tough road with Latvia playing at home. It’s really difficult but not impossible,” said Cone.
Cone intends to build the team up as competitively as possible to be at par with their opponents, most of whom are the world’s best.
“We are not going out there with the idea that we’re just going to show up and try to look good. We are going to go out there and try to win. That’s always going to be our philosophy. That will always be our goal. It won’t be our focus but it will be our goal. Our focus is just to get the process of getting better every day. But the goal is to win,” said Cone.
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