Coach Tim Cone saw good things during Gilas Pilipinas’ tune-up against Changwon LG Sakers, which was their only scrimmage before the 19th Asian Games.
For one, the nationals were consciously working on defense, which will be their key when they compete on the Asian stage in Hangzhou.
“We we’re quick defensively; we’re reacting defensively, and those things will show,” he said after their 86-81 victory over the LG Sakers.
The other thing was that the team, which was hastily assembled following the exit of coach Chot Reyes, was showing cohesion.
“The key is that the players got a little belief in each other. They started to believe in each other, that maybe we can do something,” he said.
“We just want to see if we can defend, and No. 2, move the ball. So those two things, I thought we did really well. Honestly, in my book, we played better than I thought we would.”
But Cone was quick to point out that it is not enough to gauge their progress for the Asian Games.
“It’s actually scary because we don’t judge it on one game,” he said.
