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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Cone glad to see shades of NSD spirit amid Gilas slow starts

Cone glad to see shades of NSD spirit amid Gilas slow starts

Published Aug 10, 2025 11:41 am

At A Glance

  • Gilas Pilipinas continues to deal with sluggish starts in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup and while head coach Tim Cone admitted it is becoming a cause of concern for the team, he is glad to see his wards repeatedly fighting back through the adversity.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone
Gilas Pilipinas continues to deal with sluggish starts in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup and while head coach Tim Cone admitted it is becoming a cause of concern for the team, he is glad to see his wards repeatedly fighting back through the adversity.
Cone, who also calls the shots for Barangay Ginebra in the PBA, said the team’s resilience reminds him of the Kings’ iconic “Never-Say-Die” spirit.
"What I like about our team is that we just don't quit. We just keep coming. And back home, we call it the 'Never-Say-Die' attitude. We have that," said Cone after Gilas' 66-57 victory over Iraq to reach the qualification round to the quarterfinals of the continental tiff.
Through their three group stage games, Gilas never led at the end of the first quarter. The Nationals even fell behind by double digits in the first half of their losses to New Zealand and Chinese Taipei.
On all of the three instances, Gilas came out roaring in the second half, battling back and threatening the opposing teams. They fell short against the Taiwanese and the Kiwis, but got the job done against the Iraqis.
"I think that's very evident on this team. And we hope that that will be the one that will get us forward," added Cone.
Cone, however, emphasized that Gilas can’t afford to keep playing catch-up, warning that the Filipinos might struggle to stay within striking distance against stronger teams.
"It's tough when you're playing on your heels and playing from behind all the time, which we did against Chinese Taipei. And we did it again against New Zealand," said Cone, who pointed out that the only thing they can do to prevent that from happening again is by playing defense.
"We do need to get off to better starts. But like Dwight said, they hit shots early. But we tightened our defense and were able to get ahead. I think that was the key.
"I also think we were just kind of, we wanted it so bad to start well that we're starting a little bit out of control. We need to get some control in our game earlier than what we're doing," he added.
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