Gilas looks forward to winning on the road

MANILA, Philippines — “Year One” is in the books but as early as now, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is already thinking about how to further the growth of the 15-man pool in its next international sorties.

The Nationals will reassemble in February 2025 to wrap up their campaign in the third and final window of FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers with back-to-back gigs on hostile ground against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.

Though their place in the Asia Cup tournament proper to be hosted by Jeddah is secured regardless of those games’ results, Cone reiterated the challenging trips to the territories of the Taiwanese and the Tall Blacks will help toughen the side moving forward.

Gilas’ qualification was formalized yesterday after New Zealand (3-1) beat Chinese Taipei (1-3), 81-74, in Christchurch.

“We’re going on the road and that’s going to be important for us because we’re going to have to learn how to play on the road and win on the road,” Cone said after Gilas completed a 2-0 sweep of New Zealand (93-89) and Hong Kong (93-54) in this week’s second window at the MOA Arena en route to 4-0 overall in Group B.

“It’s always great to have our fans and full houses here, it’s awesome, but when we get on the road, we ought to be able to play at the same level. All our tournaments (now) are going to be on the road so we’ve got to learn how to play well on the road.”

Cone and his handpicked 12 regulars and three alternates are breaking camp after a fruitful start to their four-year program aimed at qualifying for the 2028 LA Olympics.

Highlights of the 2024 campaign were the historic upset of world No. 6 and host Latvia and strong stands against No. 24 Georgia and No. 12 Brazil in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament last July and the reversal over No. 22 NZ in the ACQ Window 2 last Thursday at home. The Nationals are unbeaten in four matches in the race for tickets to the Continental meet.