TIM CONE DISPLEASED WITH GILAS WIN, HOPES TO HAVE KAI SOTTO BACK

MANILA, Philippines—Coach Tim Cone wasn’t all too happy with Gilas Pilipinas’ performance against Guam in the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Monday night.

The Philippines notched a convincing win over Guam, 95-71, but the final score alone doesn’t exactly tell how the game transpired.

READ: Justin Brownlee, Gilas ‘happy’ with 2-0 start, brace for what’s next

“Happy about the win but certainly not happy about the WAY we won. Give Guam and Jericho (Cruz) some credit, they came to play,” Cone wrote on X just hours after the hard-fought win.

“There’s a reason they made it to the Qualifiers. But we need to be a lot better to beat the Tall Blacks and the Boomers at our home. Hope Kai (Sotto) is healthy then.”

Cone’s frustrations stemmed from Gilas blowing a big lead.

READ: Justin Brownlee helps Gilas Pilipinas hold off Guam

Gilas got off to a fast start and led by as many as 27 points in the second quarter. Guam, however, kept fighting and was able to slice the deficit nearly in half by halftime before pulling within nine in the third quarter behind Jericho Cruz.

Cruz unleashed a game-high 27 points despite going scoreless in the first quarter.

It also didn’t help that Gilas turned the ball over 19 times and hit only six out of 19 from long range.

Cone and Gilas will have their work cut out for them in the second window of the qualifiers against powerhouses New Zealand on Feb. 26 and Australia on March 1.

Cone, though, hopes to have 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto back. Sotto hasn’t played since suffering an ACL injury last January.

2025-12-02T12:16:54Z