Cone looks to ‘simplify’ Gilas offense after shooting struggles vs Australia, New Zealand

MANILA, Philippines – Tim Cone has some tinkering to do as Gilas Pilipinas deals with the realities of its foiled homestand in FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

Cone hinted at possible changes in the way the team runs its offense after the Philippines went winless in the second window following a 93-66 drubbing from world No. 6 Australia on Sunday, March 1.

The blowout came after the Nationals nearly pulled off an upset against world No. 25 New Zealand before settling for a narrow 69-66 loss three days prior. 

“It’s back to the drawing board for me a little bit,” said Cone on Sunday, March 1. “I think we’re going to have to look a little bit at our offense and maybe try to simplify things a little more.” 

While the Philippines’ defense has primarily held up, limiting New Zealand to its lowest scoring game in this Asian Qualifiers and containing Australia to only 38 first-half points before its second-half breakaway, offense has been a hit and miss for the Filipinos, especially from beyond the arc.

Gilas Pilipinas made just 7 of its 37 three-point attempts — a lowly 19% — against New Zealand, although it did a bit better from outside against Australia as it shot 29% on a 9-of-31 clip. 

Through four games, the Philippines averages only 25% from long distance. 

“We got shooters. I think everybody complains about our team. We have shooters. We got Dwight (Ramos). We got Juan (Gomez de Liaño). We got Justin (Brownlee). We got (Kevin Quiambao)…and Calvin (Oftana). We have shooters on the team. It’s just that we’re not generating the shots that we want to generate,” said Cone. 

“It’s not about the shots going in or out. It’s about getting the quality of shots. And that’s what I said when I talked about we have to kind of look at what we’re doing, maybe simplify a little bit more so that we can get a little bit more open looks.” 

“But I don’t think there’s a problem with our shooting. We just haven’t shot the ball that well.” 

Falling to 2-2 in Group A, Gilas Pilipinas gets a shot at redemption against both the Tall Blacks and the Boomers as they play the two teams again on the road in the third window in July.

“[Losing] at home, it’s painful. We had higher hopes and it didn’t work out for us. But we’re going to look forward to July,” said Cone. 

“It’s so honorable to play and be with this team, it really is. And just having that opportunity is fantastic. So when we come back together in July, it’s always going to be a special thing when we come back. And I think we’re going to come back with renewed fire.” – Rappler.com