MANILA, Philippines -- Knowing that they have limited time to prepare for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Tim Cone intends to be as strict as he possibly can when it comes to Gilas Pilipinas' practice
MANILA, Philippines -- Knowing that they have limited time to prepare for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Tim Cone intends to be as strict as he possibly can when it comes to Gilas Pilipinas' practices.
The team got together for the first time on Monday evening at the Meralco Gym, with 14 members of the 15-man pool present. Jayson Castro made his highly-anticipated return to the national team. He was joined by the Barangay Ginebra core of Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson, Stanley Pringle, LA Tenorio, and Art dela Cruz. Also present were Alaska's Vic Manuel, Phoenix's Matthew Wright, and the TNT pair of RR Pogoy and Troy Rosario. Three of San Miguel's stars were present, with Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, and Christian Standhardinger all showing, though the latter two were in street clothes as they are still recovering from injuries."It just brings back so many memories of 1998 for me, walking into a room with those 15 great players, all superstars in their own right," Cone said of their first practice. "You know, I see them from a distance so much." "We plan against them, we watch them on video, you know, we know their weaknesses and strengths, but we don't really get a chance to talk and really get to know them. And it's a completely different light. And so, that to me was the biggest impact, just being in the room," he added. The team held a meeting on Monday evening, and spent only a short amount of time on the court for "basic offense and basic defense," according to Cone. They will hold another practice on Thursday evening, and continue working even as the PBA Governors' Cup progresses. "We realize we have a short number of practice, so we wanna be very concise," said the Ginebra coach. "That's why, we're, you know, we're being strict on how we handle the practices, who's around. Because we have such a short window." "Right now, again, we finish practice 1. Now, in our minds, we have 9 practices left," he added. "So,one practice down. So it's kinda like a countdown for us. So again, every practice has to be concise, and efficient.""For us, it's all about mental. Mental stuff. Coming in and again, the teaching and the learning. So, that's the focus," he also said. "That's why I wanna come in here and get a full two hours." "We only get the gym from basically 6 to 8, so we're gonna get a full two hours in and try to be very concise and efficient, and hopefully continue to build from there. That's the goal. That's the goal," he stressed. While their time to prepare is limited, Cone has no doubts that his veteran-laden pool will be quick to pick up on the principles that he will teach them. The multi-titled mentor has made no secret of his reasons for picking the players in the pool, and he emphasized that after their first practice. "Sorry to the young guys, why we went with veterans. I mean, they just pick up things so fast. I'm not saying the young guys can't do it, but you know, these guys could do it, and they're very, very, very impressive," he said.
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