GILAS Pilipinas interim coach Tim Cone wouldn’t mind inviting Justine Baltazar to be part of the national team pool in future tournaments.
But with time constraints and his desire to form a final 12 as soon as possible for the Asian Games, Cone said Baltazar won’t be under consideration, at least for the coming tournament.
Cone said time is of the essence in the Asiad preparation and the coaching staff doesn’t have enough time to look at other talents, including Baltazar.
“First of all, I wouldn’t mind. But I don’t know him,” said Cone in an interview with Noli Eala during his radio program Power and Play on Saturday morning. “Last time I saw him play was in La Salle two, three years ago during the pandemic. We are going to go with guys who are familiar to us at this point.”
READ: Cone says sorry to Justine Baltazar, Pineda for 'hasty remarks'
Cone said he would have invited Baltazar if there was a pool being formed for the Asian Games.
“If we had a pool, we can bring him in and take a look at him, then fine, that would be great. But at this point, if I have more time, then yes, we would invite him,” said Cone.
The interview was done hours before Cone apologized on Twitter/X on Saturday afternoon for his "hasty remarks" regarding the alleged non-interest of Baltazar to play for Gilas Pilipinas in the World Cup.
Cone said Baltazar may have been also correct in his claim that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas never called to invite the former La Salle standout in the World Cup pool.
The Gilas interim coach said he is now moving on to the controversy, and will now focus on the preparations for the Asian Games at the soonest.
“He may be absolutely right. I don’t know. Maybe we have never called him. I don’t know. To me, it’s absolute done issue at this point. I don’t have time to worry about it. Got to continue to move on,” said Cone.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph