Tim Cone would gladly QMB to his shallow Gilas pool

Quinton Millora-Brown(right) and AJ Edu couldfind themselves as localteammates at Gilas.—MARLO CUETO

Since his official appointment as head coach of Gilas Pilipinas, Tim Cone made it clear that the National squad will strictly adhere to a long-term program that will culminate in the 2027 Fiba World Cup and the Los Angeles Olympics the following year.

That’s why the veteran tactician is adamant on keeping his shallow pool of talented players even after their elimination in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup.

That was, of course, before Quinton Millora-Brown reportedly became eligible on Friday.

“Nothing official yet, but we’re certainly excited about putting him on the lineup if it does become official,” Cone replied in a text message to the Inquirer’s query on reports that Millora-Brown won his appeal with the governing Fiba and is now classified as a local.

Amidst the clamor on social media to make changes in Gilas’ lineup following its loss to Australia in the continental competition in Jeddah two days back, Cone reiterated that with the way the squad is structured, change is pretty far-fetched.

“If we’re going to just go ahead and change personnel, then we’ll all [be] back to zero again,” Cone had said after an 84-60 loss to the Boomers on Wednesday night. “We put this team together for the long term, trying to get them to grow together and get better.”

For the most part of his tenure with Gilas, Cone stayed true to his words. And he has some success to back that up, counting the Asian Games gold medal win that snapped a 61-year drought for the country.

All of the names on the Final 12 that the Philippines brought to the February window of the 2025 Asia Cup Qualifiers were in Saudi Arabia.

Additions were made to the Philippine pool from time to time, mainly because Cone was forced to do so on account of player injuries.

Cone had tinkered with the idea of taking RJ Abarrientos, Troy Rosario, Zavier Lucero and Rhenz Abando to Saudi Arabia, only to stick to his original 12 for the Asia Cup.

Abarrientos and Rosario even played a tune-up game before the team’s departure.

Whether or not the same four would be considered for the Philippines’ next assignment, the one thing that Cone was hopeful for more than anything was the return of Kai Sotto.

Sotto is recovering from ACL surgery and has no definite timeline for a return.

Enter Millora-Brown, a 6-foot-10 bruiser who can certainly help AJ Edu and June Mar Fajardo with center duties and give the Philippines a beefy triumvirate at the slot.

Millora-Brown played just one season with the University of the Philippines and helped the Fighting Maroons to the UAAP title over La Salle. He suited up for the Macau Black Bears in a friendly against the Nationals and showed his worthiness as an international player.

And with the first window of the 2027 World Cup’s Asian Qualifiers to be played in February, Cone can have more than enough big men after Sotto returns and Edu and Fajardo also there.

But for now, until everything has been officialized on Millora-Brown’s end, Cone will continue to stick to his gritty bunch.

“At this point, it’s really too early to look and say, ‘well, this is what we need at this point.’”