Time to restudy

Regardless of the outcome in today’s third FIBA Asia Cup qualifying window game between Gilas and New Zealand, it’s in coach Tim Cone’s hands how to gear up for the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah on Aug. 5-17. The big question is – will he tweak the composition of the Gilas pool?

The late addition of Troy Rosario has expanded the pool to 16 players, including injured Kai Sotto and back-up naturalized Ange Kouame. Cone has repeatedly said he’d like the pool to be compact and not constantly changing because of the limited time to prepare for international competitions. But injuries can deplete the pool at any time and without a crew of reserves, the damage could be costly.

At the recent Doha International Cup, Cone deployed 10 players against Qatar and 12 against both Lebanon and Egypt. Rosario wasn’t in the rotation although he made the trip. Japeth Aguilar stayed home. In the Qatar game, Mason Amos and Jamie Malonzo were suited up but didn’t play. Cone used the same four starters Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos, June Mar Fajardo and Scottie Thompson each contest. The fifth spot went to Calvin Oftana against Qatar, Carl Tamayo against Lebanon and AJ Edu against Egypt.

Last Thursday, Gilas lost its first game in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, 91-84, to Chinese-Taipei with eight new players from the squad that was demolished by Cone’s charges last year. New faces Brandon Gilbeck, Mohammed Al Bachir Gadiaga, Lu Chun Hsiang, Ting Chien Lin and Chen Hao Ma combined for 82 of Chinese-Taipei’s 91 points to surprise Gilas. While Chinese-Taipei displayed depth in its pool to unleash fresh gunners, Gilas returned nine players from the squad that won before. Thompson, Brownlee and Ramos had the lion’s share of minutes, each clocking at least 37. Fajardo, Edu and Chris Newsome logged at least 20. Oftana, CJ Perez and Tamayo played sparingly. Aguilar, Malonzo and Kevin Quiambao were DNPs while Amos didn’t suit up.

The lack of depth compromised Gilas’ ability to play defense as Chinese-Taipei committed only seven turnovers to the Philippines’ 17. Chinese-Taipei took 18 more field goal attempts and knocked down five more threes. Clearly, a short rotation is a killer for an exhausted team and with a grueling travel schedule, Gilas was spent.

New Zealand will bring in eight new players against Gilas like Chinese-Taipei. The Tall Blacks and Chinese-Taipei are benefiting from a large pool. Maybe, it’s time to restudy Gilas’ approach. There are 5 1/2 months to go before the FIBA Asia Cup reels off. Some hard decisions must be made soon if the pool is to stay as it is or not.