Gilas Pilipinas’ Justin Brownlee during a game vs Chinese Taipei in the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup. –FIBA IMAGES
Coach Tim Cone acknowledged that the stinging loss to Chinese-Taipei at the start of its Fiba Asia Cup campaign could put Gilas Pilipinas on a difficult road to achieve its ultimate goal.
But with the need to recover from the 95-87 defeat in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that left some fans back home rue their decision to stay up late or wake up early to witness the game, Cone expects nothing but a better showing on Thursday against Group D favorite New Zealand.
“This team has shown a lot of bounce-back [performances] in the past, and I think we really have a good chance of playing a really better game the next time out,” Cone said following the contest held at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City.
The latest encounter with New Zealand is set at a more-friendly tipoff time of 11 p.m. Philippine time, a game that is still not a must-win situation since its chances of going through the quarterfinals are still achievable.
The top team in the group gets an automatic slot in the quarters, while the second and third placers will have to go through a qualification round for the last eight against their counterparts in Group C, composed of China, Jordan, India and host Saudi Arabia.
“[There’s] no doubt about it at the start [of the tournament] that we have a chance just to go far,” said Cone. “This [loss] is a big roadblock for us right here, but it’s something that we will try to overcome. If we have to come through the loser’s bracket, then we’ll try to do that.”
Gilas will be out to find ways in atoning itself for allowing Chinese-Taipei to take a 17-point first quarter lead, for Justin Brownlee getting into foul trouble and for June Mar Fajardo’s listless showing that negated the positives coming from Kevin Quiambao and even Scottie Thompson and Dwight Ramos.
The team also needs to work on limiting its turnovers, defensive lapses and shooting struggles beyond the three-point arc and of course, shake off the frustrations and disappointment of dropping another game against one of its regional rivals.
“One thing we need to do at this point is to move on,” Cone said. “We can feel bad about this as much as we want, we can cry about it even. But bottom line is we got New Zealand coming up and we got to be ready for them.”
Gilas lost to New Zealand, 87-70, in Auckland last February to close out their respective campaigns in the Asia Cup Qualifiers. The Tall Blacks led by as many as 28 as the Philippines couldn’t repeat its hard-fought win a few months prior at Mall of Asia Arena.
New Zealand, however, fielded a completely different team, with only Tohi Smith-Milner and Jordan Ngatai as the only holdovers from the squad that beat Gilas. Corey Webster, who drew the ire of Gilas for his “homecooking” comments after the previous meeting in Manila, is also not on the roster.
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But the Tall Blacks have Taylor Britt and Mojave King, who scored 21 and 18 in their 100-78 rout of Iraq, though not after pulling away from a tight affair in the first three quarters.