UNDER coach Tim Cone’s supervision, the newest Gilas Pilipinas side went all out, sweeping Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei in back-to-back blowout games in the first round of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Now that the initial window has ended, many of us are asking: What’s next for Gilas Pilipinas as they prepare for the Olympic qualifiers?
Photo Courtesy: FIBA
After a remarkable performance in the first window, the national squad drew attention from European countries. According to Cone, the team was invited to play against Lithuania, Czech Republic and Slovenia.
This will be a significant boost for them, given their ambitions to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“We’ve got some invitations from Lithuania, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic, we’re gonna work our way through those and see what we can do,” Cone said in a statement.
Nothing has been finalized yet, as the nationals have only 10 days to prepare for FIBA windows under the agreement with Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and other basketball stakeholders such as the PBA and the UAAP.
This includes the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, wherein Gilas will also compete in Latvia. “The window for us to do it is only 10 days,” said the famous bench tactician.
“That’s our agreement with the PBA, that’s our agreement with the NCAA and UAAP, and also the agreement with the Japan league – they can only release them for so long for a FIBA window. Ten days it is for us,” he added.
Despite Gilas’ immaculate performance, the nationals wished there was one more game in the first window. They claimed that the first window was a bit short for them, given how much they enjoyed it.
Photo Courtesy: FIBA
“We were just talking in the locker room about how this kinda feels like an ending right now because we won’t play again until another three or four months, even five months. So it kinda feels like an ending for us,” he remarked.
“We were like, we wish we had one more game, or another game to play like next week or in a couple of days, so we could keep this group together. But it’s not something we control. They gotta get back,” added Cone.
With a 2-0 start, it seems Gilas Pilipinas is on track to become FIBA’s best Asian team. But for the time being, everyone will resume their regular programming as their individual leagues are about to begin.
