Tall order for Gilas in away games

MANILA, Philippines — Toughen up against strong Arab teams then beat retooled Chinese Taipei and New Zealand on the road.

That’s what Gilas Pilipinas intends to achieve in its grueling overseas gig for the next 11 days or so.

The Nationals are in Qatar for the Doha International Cup, where they’re slated to pit skills with the Qataris (1:30 a.m. today Manila time), Lebanon (11 p.m. tonight) and Egypt (1:30 a.m. Monday).

The tough opposition should serve as a good workout before the main event – the third and last window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers against the Taiwanese (Feb. 20) and the Tall Blacks (Feb. 23) – on the road.

“We’re going to have to really monitor how many minutes these guys get in the Doha series, so that we don’t exhaust them. But when it comes to Taiwan and New Zealand, all bets are off,” Gilas coach Tim Cone told One Sports’ “Play by Play.”

“We’re not going to save anybody for the (PBA) semifinals. If Justin (Brownlee) has to play 40 minutes a game against Taiwan and New Zealand to win those games, then he’s going to play 40 minutes a game.”

The Nationals had stamped their class on Chinese Taipei (103-56) and NZ (93-89) at home as part of their 4-0 card in the first two windows en route to early qualification to the Continental meet. But both squads have beefed up since then and are bent on getting back at Gilas in their own turfs.

“They’ve made some big changes. They’ve changed their naturalized players to a 7-footer, who got six or seven blocks in their game against New Zealand and played New Zealand right to the very end,” Cone said of the Taiwanese.