TIM Cone is returning to national team duty.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) program director and Gilas coach Chot Reyes made the announcement on Tuesday during the 2022 PBA Press Corps Awards Night after getting the approval of both the San Miguel and MVP Group officials.
Cone first served as national coach with the Centennial Team in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and last held the job during the 30th Southeast Asian Games in Manila in 2019, steering the PBA-backed national team to the gold medal.
[See Does Nenad Vucinic deserve a shot at coaching Gilas full time?]
The Barangay Ginebra coach now beefs up a coaching think tank which already includes former New Zealand mentor Nenad Vucinic and Reyes at a time when the national team is under fire after its loss to Indonesia in the SEA Games gold-medal game..
It's unclear, though, when Cone will come on board and in what capacity.
Gilas is just days away from the third window of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers set this June 30 in Auckland and July 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena, as well as the 2022 Fiba Asia and in Indonesia next month.
The announcement was made just hours after Reyes and Chua were seen arriving together at the PBA Press Corps function at the Hotel Novotel Manila Araneta with SMB governor Robert Non.
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The reunion of Cone and Reyes, who were together at Alaska and in the Centennial Team that won an Asiad bronze in 1998, also happened after a meeting between SMC big boss Ramon S. Ang and PLDT top honcho Manny V. Pangilinan.
SBP president Al Panlilio said the two rival blocs in the PBA had agreed to work together, both for Gilas Pilipinas and the hosting of the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
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