BRINGING home the gold medal is always the goal for a Gilas Pilipinas team. Despite this, Gilas Pilipinas interim coach Tim Cone believes that the team should first focus on improving.
Coach Tim Cone stated at a joint practice with the Women’s squad last Thursday that the team must improve every practice day as they only have a week to prepare for the 19th Asian Games.
“Our focus is not to worry about that medal right now. Our focus is what we do today, or what we do tomorrow, or what we do the next day,” he remarked during the training session.
He noted that while the team’s goal is to win gold, that should not be their primary focus at this time.
Cone believes that if the Asian Games were to begin immediately, the squad would be unable to compete against the countries they will face.
Fans, however, need not be concerned since he believes that the group of people he now has is driven enough to compete at a high level.
The team will travel to Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna for five days of intensive closed-door sessions.
The team will then play a practice game against the Changwon LG Sakers of Korea. The game will reopen to the public on September 22nd at 7 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena.
The Gilas Pilipinas will then travel to Hangzhou, China, on September 23, where they will face Bahrain on September 26, Thailand on September 28, and Jordan on September 30.
Gilas Pilipinas Women
As the 19th Asian Games approaches, the Gilas Pilipinas teams held an interactive joint practice last Thursday in Pasig City’s PhilSports Arena.
Following the training session, fans were invited to the court to mingle with the Gilas players.
While Gilas Pilipinas Men are expected to receive a lot of support from supporters, Gilas Women were showered with it following a great joint practice.
The women’s squad was seen signing jerseys, taking pictures, and posing for video greetings from their fans.
Some may not realize how significant this gesture was for the culture of basketball in our country, but the players perceive it as a sense of belonging as they share the court with the Gilas Men.
Coach Tim Cone voiced his admiration for the Gilas Women’s National Team, saying, “I’m a big fan of theirs, and I think we should recognize that more as a nation.”
PBA’s winningest coach is asking the nation to show more support for the country’s women’s team. “I think we should be really proud of the women’s program as well,” he continued.
Cone emphasized that both teams are making the same sacrifices to represent the country and must thus receive equal support from the people.
“We have a tendency to think this is just about us, but it’s all bigger than us,” he said.
The Gilas fans are expected to show their support for the Gilas Women when they play Kazakhstan on September 27, Hong Kong on September 29, and Japan on October 1.
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