CHICAGO - When Gilas Pilipinas faces off with powerhouse China in the ongoing 20th Asian Games, don’t expect Tim Cone to be handling the clipboard.
As it turned out, the PBA’s winningest coach had already handed over the play-calling duties to his staff led by his lead assistant at Barangay Ginebra, Richard del Rosario.
SCENARIOS: Gilas in collision course with Korea in quarterfinals
Here’s how coach Tim explained the transition.
“Because of the personnel on the team and the short preparation time, we decided to go with a different system from what I usually teach. Plus I wasn’t with the team in the beginning of their preparation since I was so immersed with the [FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers] Window.
“Once we reached Korea and after we played our first friendly, I decided to step in and lead the team. However, I just never felt comfortable coaching the nuances of the system and I felt I was holding the team back.
“ So I gave the lead back to the staff. It was not something I wanted to do, but I felt it was better for the team. As it turned out, the staff did a great job of preparing for Kazakhstan and Coach Richard, along with Josh and Jong, did a great job of game management.
"We also had some great scout and video from Patrick Partosa that put it altogether. It was a great team win, even from the coaching staff.”
One of the hallmarks of a grest leader is the willingness to delegate tasks to colleagues and doing it with complete trust and confidence.
That’s what is happening here, Cone retreating to the shadows for the best interests of Gilas Pilipinas.
No me. Just we.
The shift makes sense given how difficult it is to run the triangle offense without Kai Sotto and Justine Brownlee.
It also shines a spotlight on how difficult it is to handle two vastly different teams in two separate tournaments that are equally competitive and pressure-packed.
Cone could have managed this but he understood that Plan B was the better route.
Still, triangle or not, the Chinese are going to be a handful.
Laban lang.
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