GILAS Pilipinas coach Tim Cone isn’t feeling too high after the national team’s first and only tune-up game for the Asian Games on Friday.
The Nationals pulled off a hard-earned 86-81 win over Korean Basketball League (KBL) club team Changwon LG Sakers at the PhilSports Arena, two days before they leave for Hangzhou for the Asian Games.
While satisfied with how the team performed considering the short preparation time, Cone said the first tune-up game isn’t always a good gauge for any team.
“As I told the players, you never judge a team by one game,” said Cone. “Whether good or bad, whether you play a good game or your bad game, you never judge a team by one game. You never judge an import by the first game they play. We're still adjusting together. (But) we did some really positive things out there.”
Cone said Gilas defended well in the tune-up game, giving special mention to June Mar Fajardo and Ange Kouame for holding the fort after LG Sakers went to the post for their offense.
The ball was also moving around well, according to Cone, as proven by the 14 assists in the first half. Justin Brownlee made the clutch baskets to end up with 19 points, although Cone regretted overplaying him in his first game after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs in his feet.
Even Arvin Tolentino, CJ Perez, Kevin Alas, and Chris Ross, replacements for original team members Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Mo Tautuaa, and Jason Perkins, showed that they deserve a spot in the roster, Cone said.
“Those four guys [new players] had three days of practice, and they looked like a team out there. So I really appreciate that. They’re moving the ball and then get each other open. And you know, we have a great closer in Justin,” said Cone.
“In my book, we played better than I thought we would. So that’s a little scary because, again, you don’t judge it by one game. But I think, this is what was important about this game was that the players got a little belief in each other and they are starting to believe a little bit that maybe we can do something.”
Cone, however, was again careful not to be carried away by one win in a tune-up game.
“It’s dangerous to say that all together,” said Cone, when asked if the win was a morale-booster. “It was a morale booster just in terms of we feel like we know we can play with each other.”
“They are not a Korean national team. They are not a Chinese national team. They’re not Jordan. But they (LG Sakers) are a good team. They got boards and they’re really big and the imports are really good and we had to battle them.
"And they should perform really well just like any other group. I believe they are the runner-up in the Korean league last year so it’s a tough team. We’ll take it for now. We got to get back. We know we got to get better,” said Cone.
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