Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone during the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.–FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—If it wasn’t obvious before, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone made it clear on Saturday morning he can’t worry about the PBA’s calendar because it’s out of his control.
The PBA has always had a hectic calendar, so in turn, players and even Cone himself have to train with some restraints preparing for international competitions.
READ: Tim Cone will take deliberate approach to Gilas autopsy after exit
Most recently, it played a factor once more when the PBA Philippine Cup ended, literally two weeks before the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup.
As tough as that sounds, though, Cone emphasized he can’t quite do anything about the matter at hand regarding scheduling issues.
“The bottom line is, we can’t personally change that [schedule] so I don’t and can’t worry about that,” said the veteran tactician on Power and Play.
“I would have loved to have more time. In those two weeks, in terms of preparation, three of those days were the only full team practice we had,” he added.
For added context, three of the players in Cone’s lineup for the Asia Cup came off a six-game PBA Finals series where San Miguel Beer beat TNT.
READ: What’s next for Gilas Pilipinas after Fiba Asia Cup
June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez played key roles in that Beermen title run while Tropang Giga forward Calvin Oftana was the other Gilas mainstay who saw action in the championship series.
The strenuous schedule even took a toll on Perez and Oftana’s bodies as both were sidelined in the last two games of Gilas due to sprained ankles.
As per Cone, he’s very much open to the idea of either shortening the PBA calendar or moving certain conferences months away to give way to the national team.
But Cone knows he could only do so much.
“I would love to have more prep time. New Zealand and Australia played four practice games against each other in May and June after their seasons were over but the PBA goes for like 11 months out of the year,” said the Ginebra coach.
“If you want to change the whole culture, that’s fine I’d be great with that but the bottom line is we only have these parameters.”
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Gilas will be back in action in November for the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
