Gilas Philippines coach Tim Cone will use the two friendlies in Europe this month to gauge the direction his team is headed ahead of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July.
Coach Cone is now focused on formulating a program to put the Gilas in a competitive position following Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s disappointing loss in the semifinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.
Gilas will fly to Istanbul on June 25 to face Turkey, ranked 24th in the world, before traveling to Eastern Europe for a friendly against Poland, ranked 15th in the world. This is part of their preparations for the OQT scheduled for July 2-7 in Riga, Latvia.
“Just these two friendlies will give us the right feel (of where we are),” Cone said in a recent interview posted on the Philippine Basketball Association’s Facebook page.
He’ll be looking to determine what aspects of his team can be improved ahead of Gilas’ trip to Latvia, where they will face the hosts, ranked sixth in the world, and Georgia, ranked 23rd in the world, in Group A for a spot in the Paris Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.
“I think: ‘Can we compete? What do we need to do to compete?’ And that’s one of the missing pieces we need in terms of game planning and things like that heading into the Latvia OQT.”
The Gilas will begin training camp on June 21 at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.
“We’ll quarantine there and practice about six to eight times, then leave for Istanbul on the 25th,” Cone said.
The Philippines will begin their OQT campaign against Latvia on July 3 and take on Georgia the following day.
“That’s going to be a challenge, and then we play Georgia after that, who are ranked 23rd in the world, about the same ranking as Turkey, and then we’ll see from there if we can get in for the crossover,” Cone said.
Despite the challenges, Kohn has remained positive about achieving his country’s Olympic dream since competing in his last Summer Olympics at the 1972 Munich Games.
“We’ve looked at the teams, they’re all really, really good. They’re big, they’re athletic, but that doesn’t mean they’re impossible (to beat),” he said.
The top two teams from the qualifying round will advance to the semi-finals where they will face the top two teams from Group B, which consists of Brazil, Cameroon and Montenegro.
The winner of the OQT will qualify to compete in the French capital and join other strong teams including the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan and France.
“It will be tough, but I don’t think it’s impossible,” Kohn said.
“We’ll see what happens. I’m very excited, the players are very excited and we can’t wait to get back on June 21.”
Cone will retain most of the key players from the Gilas team that won the gold medal at last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games.
