Gilas still adjusting together — Cone

Tim Cone wouldn’t want Gilas Pilipinas to fall into a false sense of security following the national squad’s 86-81 victory over the Changwon LG Sakers in their tuneup game on Friday, September 22 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Gilas Pilipinas PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO 

Playing with the five recent replacements to the team led by CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Arvin Tolentino, Kevin Alas and Chris Ross, the Filipinos seem to play comfortably with one another.

Gilas in fact, issued 14 assists in the opening half, en route to taking a 47-39 halftime lead.

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee, playing for the first time since he underwent ankle surgery, led Gilas with 19 points, including some key baskets down the stretch to subdue a fighting Korean club team.

“As I told the players right now, you’ll never judge a team by one game whether good or bad, whether you have a good game or bad game,” Cone told reporters after the tuneup game that was open to the general public.

“You never judge a team by one game, an import by the first game they play.”

June Mar Fajardo, who just concluded his third straight FIBA World Cup stint recently, contributed 16 points, Cavin Oftana had a double-double of 13 and 11 rebounds, while Tolentino and Perez, who only joined the team’s practice last Tuesday, combined for 17 as they provided additional firepower for Gilas.

“We’re still adjusting together. We did some really positive things out there and we moved the ball well,” said the 65-year-old Gilas interim coach.

“We had 14 assists in the first half and I thought our first half was much better than our second half.”

Cone felt he let Brownlee spend too much time on the floor, but it’s something he’s ready to adjust moving forward.

“We just got a little tired. That’s his (Brownlee) first game since his surgery so I probably overplayed him.”

As of posting time, the American mentor said they’ve changed their flight schedule from Saturday to leaving on Sunday for Hangzhou, China for the 19th Asian Games.

The schedule adjustment will give Gilas one more extra day to practice in Manila, before packing their bags and heading to Hangzhou.

But Cone is also hopeful that Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, Jason Perkins and Moala Tautuaa, will still be given the green light to play since the four have practiced longer compared to Perez and Co.

Lassiter will be taking the spot of Roger Pogoy, due to medical issues.

Abueva and the three others’ status with Gilas is pending at the moment as the Philippine Olympic Committee has been pushing for their inclusion in the national team’s final 12.

Gilas will make its group play debut next Tuesday, September 26 when the Philippines faces Bahrain.

Aside from Bahrain, the Philippines is bracketed at Group C with Thailand and Jordan, which will have TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson as its naturalized player.