GUAM is more than just a Jericho Cruz team.
Coach Tim Cone stressed this point as Gilas Pilipinas faces a Guam side that has a lot more firepower than what it is being given credit for.
While leading scorer Earnest Ross Jr. won’t be around, Cone said three guys other than Cruz are on the Philippine radar ahead of Friday's away game in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the University of Guam Calvo Field House.
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Cone mentioned Tai Wesley, Jan Galloway, and Takumi Simon as key for Guam alongside the 35-year-old Cruz, the trash-talking, tough-playing veteran guard of San Miguel Beer.
The Gilas coach noted what exactly Wesley, Simon, and Galloway could bring to the table for a Guam team that is competing in the World Cup qualifiers for the very first time.
Cone said Wesley, who stands 6-foot-8, is a good post player who’s expected to give the Gilas bigs problems in the middle.
“I haven’t seen a footwork like his since Sean Chambers. I mean, he has tremendous footwork at the post, and every team he played in the Asia Cup, he gave problems, too. He could take anybody one-on-one at the post. He’s a huge threat,” the Gilas coach said of the 39-year-old Utah State product.
Guam's jumping bean
“You got Galloway who’s a 6-10 jumping bean. He jumps out of the gym, and he’s super athletic,” added Cone. “And you got Simon who’s a lights out three-point shooter.”
Cone said the three along with Cruz make up the core of Guam coach EJ Calvo’s short rotation, which he pointed out works just as well especially in a FIBA-sanctioned game that is being played for just 40 minutes.
“They’re not going to be a deep team where they’re going to play all 12 guys, unlike us where we have depth 1 to 12. But the difference is, it’s only a 40-minute game. So depth is not as crucial in that 40-minute game as it is to a 48-minute game,” said the Gilas mentor.
“You can get away with playing seven rotating guys and keep your seven guys fresh. And that’s what they did in the Asia Cup, they basically went maybe eight-deep.”
Guam made history in the Asia Cup after scoring its first ever win in the history of the continental meet by beating Syria, 82-73.
Cone and the rest of Gilas Pilipinas are wary of that going to their clash with the host team at 5 p.m. (Manila time).
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