HANGZHOU – Tim Cone admitted not being prepared when Iran suddenly applied the box-and-one defense on Gilas Pilipinas that allowed Iran to come back late in their quarterfinal game in the 19th Asian Games.
Cone thoughts on Gilas vs Iran
No thanks to the small time frame the team had going to the Iran match, Cone said his coaching staff wasn’t ready for such eventuality.
The Iranians applied the defensive stance to slow down Justin Brownlee, who was running berserk against the opposition after scoring 34 points in three quarters alone.
“We were playing exactly where we want to play during the first three quarters, and then they out that box-and-one on Justin,” said Cone.
“We just have short preparation time so we can’t prepare for everything, and we weren’t prepared for that box-and-one.”
Initially, the national team had to take care of business against Qatar on Monday to arrange a quarterfinal showdown against Iran the following day.
That gave Cone and the rest of his staff less than 24 hours to prepare for the knockout match.
Brownlee, who was rested by Cone in the game against Qatar in which he only played for eight minutes, carried Gilas on his broad shoulders for the first three quarters.
But as soon as Cone gave him a brief rest, the Iranians quickly too advantage.
“He (Brownlee) was running out of steam. You could see it. I couldn’t give him enough rest in the second half and I should have taken him out much earlier,” said the Gilas coach.
“As soon as I took him out they started to make a little bit of a run, and when I put him back in, they boxed him one in.”
Good thing, Brownlee saved his best for last and delivered for Gilas in the clutch.
“Players make plays down the stretch. Coaches don’t make plays down the stretch,” said Cone. “As much as we would like to have a prettier win, we’ll take anyone at this point.”
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