GILAS Pilipinas may have taken a major step toward the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup, but Tim Cone knows the job is far from finished.
After sweeping its fourth-window assignments against Jordan and Iran, the Philippines improved to 4-4 and gave itself a stronger position in the race for one of the remaining World Cup spots.
Cone acknowledged that the two victories have given Gilas more control over its fate, although he stopped short of declaring that the Philippines fully controls its destiny.
“I think we do, I don’t know if we actually do, but I think we have some control,” Cone said. Before the fourth window, Gilas was still relying on the results of Australia and New Zealand to help improve its position in the standings.
“At this point we were relying on Australia and New Zealand to continue to win their games so that we could elevate ourselves into the standings,” Cone said.
But after the back-to-back wins, the mood inside the Gilas locker room changed.
Cone said the team recognized the significance of what it had accomplished, while also reminding the players that the ultimate objective remains unchanged.
“This was really a special moment, but this wasn’t our goal. Our goal is to make the World Cup,” Cone said.
“All this did was give us a big step forward,” said Cone.
Gilas opened the window by escaping Jordan, 82-81, in overtime before beating Iran, 68-56, to complete a perfect two-game run.
For Cone, the results are important, but only as part of a much bigger journey.
“The job is not done, we still got work to do,” he said.
Still, the coach is allowing himself to look beyond the immediate qualifying battle.
Cone believes that returning to the World Cup could eventually open the door to an even bigger dream for Philippine basketball.
“I mean, how special would it be for us to make the World Cup again and then have a chance from there to go to the Olympics,” Cone said. “And that’s really the ultimate goal.” (Jesus Nathaniel Valdez)
