THE FIBA Asia Cup 2025 is still many months away, but nations competing in the event are making preparations as early as now as they begin sounding out teams for friendly matches.
Gilas Pilipinas has been receiving invitations for friendlies but coach Tim Cone has not accepted any and, in fact, already declined a few, citing the national team's players' heavy schedule and also because some dates that were requested for the matches conflict with the PBA games.
“We’ve got a lot of invitations from other countries wanting to play us. Like Japan and Korea want to play us in early July. But we can’t play,” said Cone.
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He said the PBA is still ongoing in July, making unavailable for tune-up games during that period. Gilas is not scheduled to start its own buildup until much later that month.
Japan and Korea are not in the same group with the Philippines in the FIBA Asia Cup, which is a good reason to play Gilas.
Japan, the only Asian team in the 2024 Paris Olympics, is in a relatively light Group B with Syria, Iran, and Guam, while Korea is in Group A, considered a tough group with defending champion Australia and Middle East basketball powers Lebanon, and Qatar.
Cone though said they plan to play Middle Eastern teams when Gilas journeys to that region before heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where the FIBA Asia Cup will be held beginning August 5 this year with 16 teams competing.
“We can play a couple of Middle Eastern teams when we arrive in the Middle East,” Cone said.
Because of the PBA, the team's preparation is much shorter and Cone is hoping to find more time for practice and friendlies.
This UAAP coach is at the crossroads
THE future is uncertain for this UAAP women's volleyball head coach even after a remarkable Season 87 campaign.
This coach told SPIN.ph that Season 87 was initially set to be his last as head coach.
In fact, the coach's approach to the current season was just on building and strengthening his present core without having to think of possible player additions and exits the following season.
"Ang focus ko nga, sabi ko ngayong UAAP, ang tine-training ko, 14 players lang," the coach said.
But SPIN.ph has been informed there's nothing concrete yet on his collegiate coaching future, which will be decided, according to the coach, with inputs from school officials.
"Ang focus lang ng 14 players is this season. Things will be different in terms of (future) preparations pero we'll see," he said. "We'll wait sa management's decision."
The coach has been a fixture for a while in the UAAP, but he won't be joblesss for long as he still has something to look forward to in the pro scene where greater responsibilities also await.
'King James' Yap calling it a career?
Politics may finally end the basketball career of James Yap, the popular and high-scoring former PBA star with Purefoods and other teams.
The two-time MVP is running for a second term as councilor of San Juan City and no longer has an existing contract with any PBA team.
Yap, 43, last played for Blackwater, where his one-year contract expired last February and was not renewed. While still under contract with the Bossing, it was observed that his mind was on getting a second term as councilor and was not often available for practices and games.
He sparingly played for the Bossing during that one-season stretch but saw action in the team's return to the Rizal Memorial Coliseum during last year’s Philippine Cup where the team lost, 92-91, to Terrafirma.
In all, he played six games in his first conference stint with Blackwater, averaging 3.7 points on 5-of-14 shooting from three-point range.
Yap later suited up in the 2024 PBA All-Star game as part of Team Mark Barroca, which forged a 140-140 standoff against Team Japeth Aguilar on the late five-point play by Robert Bolick.
His All-Star appearance was the 18th straight year for Yap which means he hasn't missed playing in the exhibition beginning the year he first played in the PBA.
At the start of Season 49, however, he was relegated by Blackwater to the injury/reserved list due to a hand injury and did not play for what could have been his 20th season in the league.
He was last seen playing, according to SPIN.ph sources, during an Alumni League game for his college team, the University of the East.
A No. 2 overall selection in the 2004 draft by Purefoods, Yap, who was also famously married to Kris Aquino with whom he later separated, won seven PBA championships with the team, including the league’s last grand slam in 2014.
He was the MVP in 2006 and 2010, a four-time Finals MVP, a three-time Mythical First Team member, a Best Player of the Conference winner, one-time Mythical Second Team member, a two-time Three-Point shootout champion, and former scoring champion.
Yap is also part of the PBA 50 Greatest Players, but was a no-show when the league welcomed the 10 additional players to the list two weeks ago.
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