Tim Cone stays committed to Gilas roster despite losses

Despite consecutive losses in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, national team head coach Tim Cone remains committed to his current roster and plans no changes at this point.

Coach Cone emphasized logistical challenges such as finances, budget constraints, and extra travel time that made it difficult to adjust the pool size or add new players, citing recent grueling campaigns in Qatar and Taiwan.

The most recent window saw Gilas Pilipinas lose two of its three games in the Doha International Cup against Lebanon and Egypt, followed by losses to Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.

AJ Edu emerged as one of the few bright spots during this period, providing some optimism for future performances despite recent disappointing results.

Coach Cone acknowledged that learning from these challenges is crucial and stressed the importance of improving defensively after allowing opponents to score an average of 82.0 points in their last five games compared to 72.4 points earlier.

Gilas Pilipinas is assured of a slot in the FIBA Asia Cup which will be held in Saudi Arabia in August.