Modest expectations for Cone in first day of Gilas practice
At A Glance
- Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone isn't expecting big developments yet when the Nationals return to practice on Monday, July 7, at the Upper Deck Gym in Ortigas.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone isn't expecting any big development yet when the Nationals return to practice on Monday, July 7, at the Upper Deck Gym in Ortigas.
The national team, which will be practicing every Monday up until the last week of July for the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is expected to convene for a meeting and a light training for the first day of practice, especially with the majority of its PBA players still busy with the playoffs.
“It’s not going to be a heavy, long practice, obviously. I’m not even sure if everybody is going to show up—especially the guys in the playoffs,” said Cone, who himself is also juggling his duties with Gilas and Ginebra, which forced a do-or-die Game 7 in the semis against SMB.
“I don’t even know who’s showing up at this point. We’re grasping at straws—just like we did tonight—in terms of trying to figure out how to get practices in. But if we can get a core of six, seven, maybe eight guys, that would be good enough for now,” he added.
June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez said on Sunday, July 6, that they will be attending the first day of practice though the extent of their participation remains to be seen, especially that they still have a Game 7 to play on Wednesday.
The same could be said for Cone’s own Ginebra players in Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo.
Calvin Oftana of TNT is through to the All-Filipino Cup finals after the Tropang 5G disposed of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in six games but isn't expected to do much either as he is nursing an ankle injury.
Also expected to show up are Carl Tamayo and Dwight Ramos while Kai Sotto is still recovering from his knee injury.
Justin Brownlee is arriving on Tuesday and will be good to go next week while AJ Edu and Kevin Quiambao are also missing the first day of practice. Edu is also not yet in the country while Quiambao is in Sacramento for his bid for the NBA Summer League.