Cone disappointed with Gilas’ rough start, but plans to ‘just keep battling’

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone himself was disappointed with the team's rough start in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup as they sank to 0-2 in the group stage of the competition.

The Philippines lost to Chinese Taipei, 95-87, in its opener, then fell short in its comeback attempt against New Zealand, 94-86.

"Well we're disappointed that we didn't get that. That we lost two in a row. We didn't see that, I don't think we all saw that coming and so we're disappointed but the tournament's not over for us," Cone said after the loss to the Tall Blacks.

Cone is still holding on to the fact that they can still advance to the quarterfinals, although the path is more challenging.

"We have a big game against Iraq coming up and [let's] see if we can get into the next round... We just need to keep battling, keep our heads going forward and don't sink because of these last two losses. We can't afford that, there's still more to do and we're going to be ready for our next game."

READ MORE | Can Gilas Pilipinas still advance to the FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals?

Cone also said they hope to adjust mentally and tactically, especially with regards to the three-point shooting by their opponents.

Chinese Taipei shot 12-of-27 for 44.4% shooting from three while New Zealand torched Gilas with 13-of-26 (50%) on triples. In contrast, the Philippines shot 8-of-28 (28.6%) and 9-of-28 (32.1%) in the two games.

"To me, it's just more mental adjustments than anything else and just something we've got to continue to talk about and work on and try to figure out why teams are shooting so well," Cone said. 

"Hopefully, we can turn that around. We have to, and again, it's all going to be about mental, getting loose balls, getting loose rebounds and not allowing the extra possessions to get three-point shots up."

Gilas is now in a must-win situation heading into their match against Iraq on Saturday. A win will allow the Philippines to move to the quarterfinals qualifiers, while a loss will end its FIBA Asia Cup campaign.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News