Tim Cone hopes Philippines doesn’t go ‘back to zero’ after Gilas debacle – report

PBA’s winningest head coach Tim Cone said he hopes the Philippine basketball won’t go back to zero just because of the recent winless run by Gilas Pilipinas in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Speaking to Spin.ph, Cone opened up on a slight fear that Philippine basketball might push the reset button because of what happened to the nationals in their latest World Cup stint.

“The danger here is we change all over again and start from ground zero – and that’s what we always do when we don’t have success, rather than keep progressing and moving forward,” the former national coach said. “We always go back to zero.”

“I think that we need to continue to move forward from here and we’re going to have another opportunity,” he added. “We’re going to have an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics … and the world championships, and we’ll be better prepared.”

Cone, who handles Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the PBA, also left praise for Yeng Guiao for taking on a job that was handed out to him in the aftermath of the infamous Gilas-Australia brawl.

“He did a fabulous job of getting us qualified, so hats off to him.”

The mentor also mentioned that then head coach Chot Reyes’ tenure from 2017 to 2018 was where Gilas saw shades of progress.

“When we had that continuity with Chot Reyes, that’s when we were progressing, getting better and better,” he added. “Then all of a sudden, Australia happened and poor Yeng, he made a change right in the middle of the tournament and had to keep going.”

(Photo from PBA Images)