Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone is hoping the national men’s team can mirror the dominant showing of the Gilas Pilipinas Youth squad, which recently swept the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers under the guidance of LA Tenorio.
“Hopefully, the seniors’ team can take a page from what LA is doing, and we can do the same thing,” Cone said in an interview with DWAR Abante Radyo’s Sports Now program.
The Gilas Youth squad turned heads with a series of emphatic victories, routing Vietnam (113-62), Thailand (87-42), Singapore (101-37), Indonesia (77-68), and Malaysia (96-61) in the preliminaries before overpowering Indonesia again in the gold medal match, 70-40.
Cone commended Tenorio’s debut stint as head coach, praising his team’s cohesion and defensive identity while acknowledging that the real test lies ahead in future competitions.
“He will be the first to admit that (Gilas Pilipinas Youth) has an edge in the (SEABA) competition in talent, but they looked very well-coached, they defended well, they really played well,” Cone said.
“I think, from a coaching standpoint, I can see that (Tenorio did a great job), but from the fans’ standpoint, they might not have seen that. Defense wins championships; defense wins gold medals,” he added.
Cone and the Gilas seniors are preparing for the FIBA Asia Cup, where they hope to carry the same energy and effectiveness that defined the youth team’s campaign.
