What’s next for Gilas after Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers window 1 domination

What’s next for Gilas after Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers window 1 domination

MANILA, Philippines—New-look Gilas Pilipinas had a successful run in the first window of the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers, but there’s going to be a long wait before the national team plunges back into action again.

The national team call-ups will go back to their respective teams in the PBA and overseas leagues before they congregate again to prepare before July as Gilas vies for an Olympics spot through the the 2024 Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Unbeaten opener

“I don’t think there’s one guy in our team who’s not looking forward to June to get this thing going again,” said Cone after his wards wrapped up their first task in this new Gilas era with ease.

“They all had a great time.”

And why wouldn’t they have a great time? Since Cone took over permanently as the squad’s head coach, good things have been happening for Gilas.

After a historic medal run in the 2022 Asian Games, Cone also led the Philippines to two straight wins in the first window of the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.

The Filipinos shrugged off a slow start to crush Hong Kong on the road, 94-64, before whipping the visiting Chinese Taipei 106-53 in front of the hometown crowd at Philsports Arena.

In those two games, notable changes were seen for the national team compared to its showing in the Fiba World Cup 2023.

In the global competition, Gilas only averaged 16.0 assists per game as a team. Though two games are not enough barometers for “change,” the Nationals have tallied a whopping norm of 31.5 assists per game this time.

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