BALTI PUTS 'MISUNDERSTANDING' BEHIND AS HE JOINS GILAS UNDER CONE

JUSTINE Baltazar is excited to become part of Gilas Pilipinas again after he was called up to be part of the pool by head coach Tim Cone for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.

The 6-foot-9 Baltazar will now be part of the Gilas Pilipinas pool five years after he last played for the national team under then-head coach Tab Baldwin where he saw action in two tournaments – the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade in 2021, and the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in 2022 in Angeles, Pampanga.

READ Cone confirms QMB out for Gilas: 'He just chose not to come'

Between then to now, however, Baltazar was at a center of controversy in 2023 when Cone said during a news conference that the now-Converge big man showed "zero interest" in joining the Gilas team to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

Cone later apologized for his remark and clarified what he said in a lengthy post on X/ Twitter after Baltazar and his handler Dennis ‘Delta’ Pineda also explained that they received no invitation from the Gilas camp to play in the World Cup.

Nearly three years after that incident, ‘Balti’ is with Gilas under Cone, and the controversy wasn’t in his mind when he got the call from the 25-time PBA champion coach to join the national squad.

"Misunderstanding lang siguro ‘yung nangyari," said Baltazar on Monday. "Akala nila na-invite, hindi naman ako na-invite."

"Wala na ‘yun," Baltazar said. "Etong kay coach Tim Cone, excited talaga ako na makasama sa Gilas."

Baltazar is in line to become part of the Final 12 of Gilas Pilipinas for the games against New Zealand on February 26 and Australia on March 1. But Baltazar is not getting ahead of himself and taking it day-by-day as his focus is to learn the offensive and defensive patterns of Gilas under Cone.

"Sobrang saya siyempre na tinawagan nila ako lalo na sa Gilas. Hindi na ako nag-dalawang isip talaga. Gusto ko talaga ma-experience din kay coach Tim Cone. First time ko kay coach Tim. Nung tinanong ako, sabi ko 101 percent, gusto ko maglaro para sa bayan. Sobrang excited talaga. Sobrang saya na makasama sa pool."

The 28-year-old Baltazar entered the picture after Kai Sotto and Quentin Millora-Brown chose to miss the coming window of the FIBA qualifiers. But Baltazar said there is no pressure to fill the roles left by Kai and QMB.

"Nag-aadjust pa ako. Gina-guide nila ako. Kailangan ko talaga lumapit sa mga assistant coaches para sa mga plays," Balti said.

"Sa ngayon, mag-focus muna ako sa ginagawa namin ngayon. Kailangang magtulungan kami. Hindi ko muna iniisip ‘yun… Walang pressure. Focus lang talaga," said Baltazar on filling the hole left by Sotto and Millora-Brown.

2026-02-16T10:15:06Z