IN the most crucial timeout of Gilas Pilipinas in its hard-fought match against New Zealand on Thursday night, head coach Tim Cone passed over the whiteboard to one of his assistants to draw up a play.
With 6.1 seconds on the shotclock to work with and Gilas holding on to a precarious 88-84 lead, the hosts got the play it needed as Chris Newsome drained an open three-pointer with 1:09 left, allowing the Philippines to extend its lead to seven.
The play that assistant coach Josh Reyes drew out - seen by the entire nation on television and streaming platforms - was executed well-enough to create the gap to claim the victory and end Gilas' losing slump against New Zealand.
READ Brownlee, Sotto, Fajardo praised for overcoming NZ physicality
Cone said the primary options on the play was Justin Brownlee and Kai Sotto, but Newsome was fortunate enough to be left unmarked during the execution.
“We had it designed for Justin (for) Kai [Sotto] to cut off of Justin, see if we can get him (Sotto) inside. If not, Justin is going to retreat to the three-point line and get a shot. But if that didn’t happen, then Dwight sets a screen for New and New comes off the screen,” said Cone.
“It was only six seconds left (on the shotclock) and they backed off of New. So he had to take that shot. Lo and behold, he made it,” said Cone.
Cone has always been confident in Reyes, so giving him the reins during the timeout was no longer a surprise.
In a September 2023 interview, Cone spoke highly of Reyes and it was only unfortunate that he doesn’t get the recognition because he is the son of former Gilas Pilipinas coach and TNT mentor Chot Reyes.
READ Cone glad to see Gilas Youth coach Josh Reyes getting out of dad's shadow
Josh, who is also part of Chot’s staff with the Tropang Giga, recently stepped down as Gilas Pilipinas Youth but Cone kept the younger Reyes in the seniors team as one of his deputies.
“I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves because he’s Chot’s son,” said Cone last year. “He kind of grew up under the shadow of Chot and people see Chot and say, he is there because of Chot. But Josh, on his own, is a tremendous coach.”
On Newsome’s key shot, however, Cone said no one from the coaching staff, not even him, should be getting the credit.
“It wasn’t great coaching. It was just great playing,” said Cone.
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