IT was an epic win Gilas Pilipinas pulled off in overtime against Saudi Arabia to clinch a berth in the quarterfinals of the 31st FIBA Asia Cup.
Too bad, the team will have little time to savor the sweet taste of victory.
Waiting for Gilas in the Final Eight of the continental meet is no less than two-time reigning champion Australia, which hasn’t lost a single Asia Cup game since Asia and Oceania were merged into a single zone by FIBA in 2017.
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Coach Tim Cone knows fully well that he and the rest of the team will have their hands full as he takes on the Boomers for the very first time since taking over the Gilas program two years ago.
“I never coached against Australia before. This will be my first time and I’m excited about it,” said Cone following that thrilling 95-88 win over the host country on Tuesday morning (Manila time) at a jampacked King Abdullah Sports City.
“We know they are pretty much the No. 1 seeded team in the tournament and for us to beat them it’s going to be an upset.”
The Boomers had waltzed their way to the quarterfinals outright by topping Group A with a 3-0 record and with a winning average of 25.6 points.
Lebanon was the only team that lost by a relatively smaller margin to the Boomers at 93-80.
But following the morale-boosting win over Saudi Arabia, Cone mentioned about Gilas earning momentum heading deep into the continental tournament.
“Winning this game the way we did tonight has supplied us with some momentum. Hopefully we could carry that against Australia."
The game against the Boomers – the first since that infamous brawl at the Philippine Arena during the 2018 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – is set on Wednesday.
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