GILAS Pilipinas continues to impress in the Tim Cone era following an impeccable home stand in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers last week versus New Zealand and Hong Kong at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The home team electrified the crowd with a 93-89 win over the higher-ranked Tall Blacks, before showing no signs of complacency in a 93-54 blowout victory over Hong Kong to close out the year with a bang.
With that said, here are some of the key takeaways from those two games.
Continuity solves all time constraints
Given less than two weeks to prepare for this window, this Gilas team still looked fluid and familiar with each other for this home stand.
Well, that’s because this is basically the same team that Cone assembled for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia last July, with Scottie Thompson the only addition after recovering from injury.
With familiarity no longer an issue, the team can focus on their respective game plans for New Zealand and Hong Kong and it showed in those two games, where 67 percent of their total field goals (73) came from assists (49), showing just how solid this team is.
READ: How Gilas roommates KQ, Amos inspired each other after DNPs vs NZ
Gone are the days wherein we’d have to hastily put together a group with weeks to go - and hope for the best.
Gilas is a big team, and Cone knows it
Remember the time when the phrase “di talaga pang-basketball ang height ng mga Pinoy” was the ultimate sentiment each time Gilas lost to a team ranked higher than us?
Well, gone are those days as well.
Half of the roster that we sassembled for this home stand stand at 6’7 or taller– this doesn’t even include Kevin Quiambao who was listed at 6’7 here, but is officially at 6’4, according to FIBA.
The smallest player in this roster? It's Scottie Thompson who, at 6-foot-1, probably is as good a rebounder as any big man they faced in the tournament.
The numbers certainly back it up in these two games as Gilas outrebounded both NZ and HK (57-34, 44-31) in those two games, outscored them in the paint (48-16, 50-18) and had a total of nine blocks in those two games.
It’s actually nothing new as the Philippines flexed its size advantage all tournament long, leading the qualifiers in rebounds at 53.5 over Australia (50) and New Zealand (48.3).
READ: Kai Sotto, ginulat ang mundo? Well, not anymore
The Filipinos also lead the tournament in blocked shots per game at 5.3, proving that we’re not gonna be bullied in the paint anymore.
These numbers have proven that, at least in the Asia-Pacific region, we’re one of the taller, if not the tallest, teams in this tournament.
And you know the most exciting part in all of this? AJ Edu is yet to play, and another towering big in Quentin Millora-Brown has already expressed his interest in playing for the national team.
Future proofed
While Gilas Pilipinas’ play still revolves mostly around Justin Brownlee, it won’t be long until the kids take over. And the future looks oh so bright for this team.
All healthy, this young core of Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, Dwight Ramos, Mason Amos, and Kevin Quiambao can go for at least 10 years, with Ramos being the oldest of the six at 26 years old.
READ: Cone hails Tamayo, KQ, Amos as the 'future superstars' of Gilas
Their pro wings in Calvin Oftana and Jamie Malonzo also aren’t in their 30s yet, while we still have young prospects who can be injected to the line-up, like the aforementioned QMB and a former national team player who’s already standing out in Cone’s system with Ginebra in RJ Abarrientos.
Safe to say, we can finally give Japeth Aguilar the send off he deserves as he’s more than done enough for the national team – regardless of what other people may say.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
