In key adjustment, Gilas goes zone vs Georgia

MANILA Philippines -- Part of playing a basketball game is making adjustments on the fly.

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone on Thursday night saw the Philippines start cold in their close 98-96 loss to Georgia in FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

The Georgians, who had their backs against the wall, just attacked the paint relentlessly and built a lead as big as 20 points, 40-20, in the second quarter.

It was a crucial stretch, as the Philippines needed to win or lose by less than 18 points to make the OQT semifinals and keep their Paris Olympics dream alive.

Cone then made a “key move” -- an adjustment he has not made in years -- go on a zone defense.

The PBA’s most titled mentor admitted that he is “not really a zone guy.”

“I think that was the key move, when we went to zone. I’m not really a zone guy, but they were just eating us up individually. They were just isolating on us, blowing by us so we had to go to zone and it worked,” he said in the postgame press conference.

“They struggled with it a little bit and we got some confidence and then we just stuck with it the rest of the way,” he added.

The adjustment paid off, as the Philippines strung together 11 straight points to cut the lead to nine, 31-40.

Gilas found their rhythm as they slowly, but surely, clawed back and eventually took the lead, 71-70, in the third quarter after a pair of freebies by Dwight Ramos.

They even held the advantage in the fourth quarter, 81-80, before the Georgians unleashed a 10-2 run to go up 90-83.

CJ Perez then heated up and made it a one-point lead, 90-89, with 2:45 remaining, which all but formalized the Philippines’ entry to the semifinals.

They did not allow Georgia to go up by double digits any longer the rest of the way.

“Like I said that’s very rare for me, but in this kind of situation, this kind of tournament, you do what you have to do. We didn’t even practice zone. We haven't practiced zone since we’ve been together,” he said.

“We have not practiced it at all, ever. So, for them to step in and play zone like that, that’d be good. It was amazing.”

The Philippines will be facing Brazil in the semifinals of the Riga tournament on Saturday, 8:30 p.m. (Manila time).

The winner will face either Cameroon or the host country Latvia in the final.