TIM Cone’s first practice session with the new Gilas Pilipinas was like a time machine that brought him back to 21 years ago.
As he held court Monday night at the Meralco gym for the 15-man pool training for the 30th Southeast Asian Games, Cone can’t help but go back to the time when he called the shots for the Centennial Team in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.
“It just brings back so many memories of 1998 for me, walking into a room with those 15 great players. I mean, all superstars in their own right, except maybe for Art (Dela Cruz) because he’s part of the Ginebra core. But basically they’re all superstars,” said Cone after the national team’s first Monday practice.
“Just being around them, having an opportunity to react with them. I see them from a distance so much, we planned against them, we watch them on videos, we know their weaknesses and their strengths, but we don’t really get the chance to talk and get to know them. It’s a completely different life.”
In his first stint as national coach, Cone had the opportunity to handle the likes of superstars Alvin Patrimonio, Johnny Abarrientos, Vergel Meneses, Allan Caidic, Johnny Abarrientos, Marlou Aquino, Kenneth Duremdes, Olsen Racela, among others, with the Centennial Team which bagged the bronze medal during the Bangkok Asiad.
The experience was no different to his second shot with the national squad.
“That to me was the biggest impact, just being in the room (with these superstars). Actually the practice was just very basic.”
But unlike that great collection of PBA superstars which had a lot of time bonding and playing together before the Asiad, this Gilas Pilipinas won't be having such luxury.
Cone conducted his first practice with exactly two months before the biennial meet kicks off in its return to the country 14 years after the Philippines last hosted it.
“We realize we have a short number of practices so we want to be very concise. That’s why we’re being strict on how we handle the practices and who’s around, because we have such a short window,” said the Barangay Ginebra coach.
“Right now we finished Practice 1, now in our minds we have nine practices left. Maybe we can figure out a way to get one or two or three more. Somehow we have not figured that out yet. But basically we have nine practices left. So one practice down. It’s kind of like a countdown for us.”
Gilas will have his second practice on Thursday immediately as Cone and the nine other players won’t be available for the weekly Monday training next week since they will be coming straight from Dubai where the PBA Governors Cup will play two games at the Coca-Cola Arena.
“It’s going to be a tough trip. It’s a nine-hour flight. We’re only there for two days then we come back another nine hours. So it’s going to be very taxing,” said Cone, 61. “I know I don’t want to practice on Monday. I’m gonna be a wipeout from those flights.”
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