Cone tapped as Gilas head coach; 12-man roster named
MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings mentor Timothy Earl “Tim” Cone has been officially named as the permanent head coach of Gilas Pilipinas for their upcoming matches.
According to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio, Cone was the logical choice for the post after steering the Philippine men’s basketball team to a gold medal finish in the Asian Games last year.
“Coach Tim accomplished what had not been done i n decades with only a few weeks to prepare and multiple challenges in terms of personnel,” Panlilio said in a statement on Monday night.
“We’re excited to see what he can accomplish with a long-term program in place, especially if such a program is supported by all basketball stakeholders,” the SBP official added.
During the announcement, the SBP have also released Cone’s 12- man roster for their upcoming qualifying matches, which is composed of a mixture of PBA players, collegiate standouts, and Filipino cagers based overseas.
Among those in the 12man roster are Gin Kings’ Jamie Malonzo, Earl Scottie Thompson and Justin Brownlee, San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo and Jaymar Perez, Meralco Bolts’ Chris Newsome, and TNT Tropang Giga’s Calvin Oftana.
Also part of the list are De La Salle University Green Archers center Kevin Quiambao as well as Japan B. League players Dwight Ramos (Levanga Hokkaido), AJ Edu ( Toyama Grouses) and Carl Tamayo (formerly of Ryukyu Golden Kings).
“I’m looking forward to taking on the role of the national team head coach again,” said Cone. “I’ve always firmly believed from back in 1998 when I coached the Centennial Team that you’ve got to go out and get the best players in the country to represent us.”
“We all have different opinions on who the best players are, but we ’ re confident we picked the best players who will form the best
team,” added the winningest PBA head coach.
First up for Cone will be preparing the team that will be seeing action next month for the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Gilas will battle Hong Kong on February 22 at the Tsuen Wan Stadium and Chinese Taipei on February 25 at the PhilSports Arena.
The Philippines men’s basketball team will also compete i n the Olympic Qualifying Tournament from July 2 to 7 in Latvia for a chance to qualify for the upcoming Paris Olympics./