ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Tim Cone hails Kevin Quiambao for stepping up in the crunch

Tim Cone hails Kevin Quiambao for stepping up in the crunch

Published Aug 12, 2025 03:29 pm

At A Glance

  • Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone praised rising star Kevin Quiambao following his stellar performance in the Nationals' 95-88 overtime win against Saudi Arabia, which secured their spot in the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone praised rising star Kevin Quiambao following his stellar performance in the Nationals’ 95-88 overtime win against Saudi Arabia, which secured their spot in the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.
The veteran mentor commended the 24-year-old forward for stepping up in crucial moments and not backing down when the game was on the line.
"Kevin is not afraid of the moment. I think that's the best way to describe Kevin. Nothing's too big for him," Cone said of Quiambao, who finished with 17 points to provide support to Justin Brownlee's 29-point explosion.
Quiambao even nailed two crucial three-pointers that opened the floodgates for Gilas in the extra period. Those triples proved to be a fitting followup to an earlier clutch Brownlee trey that tied the game at 79-all and sent the game to the overtime.
Not being afraid of taking the big shots is a mark of a special player according to Cone – something that he definitely sees in the young forward.
"He'll play big. He'll play the same way whether he's playing here in the Asia Cup or if he's playing in the Barangay League. He's just got that kind of personality," said Cone.
"He's going to bring it all the time. He's not going to be afraid to step up and take the big shot when it's presented to him. That's not always the case with a lot of players. That's what makes him special," he furthered.
Though already seeing his potential develop, there's still a lot to improve on for Quiambao especially that Gilas is only starting to learn more about the former La Salle star.
"We're still learning a lot about Kevin because he is the young gun on the team. I think the youngest player, I'm not sure either him or Carl, but they're both the same age and he's our youngest player," said Cone.
To the veteran mentor, Quiambao is slowly emerging as one of Gilas key cogs alongside Brownlee, Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, and Dwight Ramos.
"He's battling for his position and he's battling for his minutes. He just keeps wowing us. He's winning those battles," Cone revealed.
"He's becoming a vital cog. Another guy we can throw in there with Justin and Dwight. New and Scotty, June Mar and AJ, of course. He's another guy we can throw in there," he added.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.