Save for those in the general admission area, tickets for Gilas Pilipinas’ game against Chinese Taipei are already gone with still three days left before the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Monday at the Philsports Arena.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Erika Dy revealed that Filipino fans have been rallying behind the Gilas squad, which is now being handled by Tim Cone on a full-time basis with beloved import Justin Brownlee as naturalized player.
The Filipino cagers are facing Hong Kong at press time at the Tsuen Wan Stadium in Hong Kong.
Dy said they expect a capacity crowd to show up when they face the Taiwanese in their first home game since winning the gold medal in the Asian Games for the first time in 61 years.
“Ticket sales were doing well. They were sold out except for the GA area,” Dy told Daily Tribune.
The positive reaction among fans to the new Gilas squad is quite understandable.
Cone is a fan-favorite not only for his achievements on the court but also for his effort to reach out to ordinary fans. In fact, he encourages his players to mingle with fans and often holds open workouts to send-off the team to major international events.
But the federation needs more than ticket sales as the Filipinos take their first steps to the Olympics.
“There’s a four-year vision for this,” SBP president Al Panlilio said.
“We started the journey last week in our first practice (Inspire Academy). Me and Coach Tim, we were already talking over the holidays.”
“A lot of discussions. His philosophy is very different. This is an exciting time for Philippine basketball. The goal is always to get better. We had a good year, last year, hosting the World Cup and winning the SEA Games gold and the Asian Games gold, with Tim, our Miracle Team in Hangzhou. As a federation, we always want to improve, not just in five-on-five, but in all other disciplines.”
For this particular window, Dy added that Cone decided to stick with his 12-man pool despite the injuries suffered by AJ Edu and June Mar Fajardo.
“He sticks with his 12 and will decide on whether we need to add for every window. Just like in this window, AJ and June Mar are out, so he tapped Japeth (Aguilar). He’s now going with an 11-man roster,” Dy said.
Panlilio stressed that they intend to keep the pool intact.
“If we can keep this pool together for the next four years, and that’s the objective, we’ll see how we progress in every tournament that we compete in,” he said.
“We have two windows this year for the FIBA Asia Cup and then we’ll have our OQT (Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July). Exciting times ahead for the program and a lot of things to look forward to.”
