SHOCKED TIM CONE CREDITS GILAS' HISTORIC WIN VS LATVIA TO DEFENSE
MANILA, Philippines — Shortly after Gilas Pilipinas pulled off a stunning win against world no. 6 Latvia, Tim Cone came into the post-game interview and told media men that he's still in a state of shock.
"I'm totally shocked to be sitting here in front of you guys after winning this basketball game," said Cone during the postgame presser after the Philippines pulled the rug from under host Latvia right before a stunned home crowd at the Riga Arena very early Thursday morning (Philippine time).
Cone said defense spelled the biggest difference for a Philippine side that watched Latvia demolish Georgia on Wednesday, 83-55 in the kickoff game marking the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Group A.
"Got to credit our guys and their defense. We were doing our best trying to defend everybody," Cone said, whose Philippine side held Latvia to just 37.5 percent from the floor (27-of-72).
The American mentor and concurrent Barangay Ginebra coach added that Gilas' defense targeted Charlotte Hornets power forward Davis Bertans right from the get go.
"We were very, very conscious of him," noted Cone, referring to Bertans, who struggled to get his shooting after making just 2-of-7 from downtown en route to finishing with just 10 points. "We played him with a smaller guy who can be quicker."
Cone admitted on the defensive end, they had to put on a smaller guy to defend Bertans, knowing how quick the 31-year-old Latvia forward is.
"You look at our line-up, our big guy had to go out and guard (Rodions) Kurucs. We put our big guy on Kurucs and kept a smaller guy on Bertans. And we were prepared to chase him and stay with him, prepared for him to slip screens, go-screens. That was just the game plan. But the guy still makes some incredible shots," he added.
"We try to slide into him and then hope and pray that he would miss. And tonight, he missed, went in our favor," Cone said.
A big break that turned out to be a game changer was the absence of guard Arturs Zagars, who scored eight points, six assists and three rebounds in Latvia's 28-point beatdown of Georgia.
"This is not something we thought we are gonna do, I'll be honest with you," said Cone. "We wanted to come in and compete and really put on a good show. We got started early. We hit shots early.
"Then, thankfully, Latvia missed shots and also (Arturs) Zagars didn't play. That was huge for us. He is that guy who goes out there and controls tempo for them."
Cone added that Latvia could have easily flipped the script, but the home team's inability to make its shots made this win possible for the Philippines.
"But it just turned out We got momentum and we just never really lost it. There were a couple of stretches where we kinda lost our way a little bit. But it just seemed like when Latvia was about ready to make a huge run at us, they would miss an open three-point shot. It was just one of those nights for Latvia. They just weren't hitting shots tonight," said Cone.
Gilas, which shot 48 percent from the field (30-of-62), will go for the sweep when it faces Georgia at 8:30 p.m. Philippine time.
A win over the 23rd-ranked Georgia could add to the Philippines' historic achievement considering that Gilas' nine-point triumph marked the country's first victory over a European squad since its 84-82 decision against Spain in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
2024-07-04T00:25:51Z dg43tfdfdgfd