Gilas Coach Tim Cone Hopes To Get A Win Against Macau On July 28

Gilas Pilipinas is looking to get a win versus the Macau Black Bears on Monday, July 28, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The exhibition game will serve as a send-off for the national team before flying to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the FIBA Asia Cup in August.

Ahead of the FIBA Asia Cup, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone has so far been pleased with their preparations for the tournament, despite missing a few key players in the roster.

"Well, better than I expected. We started a little earlier than I thought we would. We were going to wait until after the PBA finals, but we were able to get the guys from Japan in and Justin [Brownlee] in early," coach Tim Cone shared after the team's practice session at Upper Deck Gym on Thursday. "So then, you know, we have four or five players, they we're out. So, you know, we've been able to get regular practices in. We started with only seven or eight guys, but recently, we've gotten out down to eleven."

"We've been able to progress, and I've been pleased with our progress so far. Um, it's not ideal, but it's like I said, it's better than what we expected," Cone added.

As the FIBA tournament in Jeddah looms, the Gilas mentor hopes to get a win against a formidable team like the Macau Black Bears and put on a good show for the fans on Monday.

"Well, they beat China, national team, so they're obviously very strong. I know a couple of their players, and they've got like 6 Americans on the team, a guy from Nigeria, a guy from Senegal. So it's not like a local Chinese team. This is really an import-laden team and they're going to be tough," Cone said. "Hopefully, we can put on a good show for our fans, but the bottom line is we want to get everybody into the game. We want to win against Macau, but it's more important that we use that as preparation for Jeddah."

Gilas Pilipinas Coach Tim Cone on Quentin Millora-Brown: 'We would love to have him'

Gilas Pilipinas will be facing the Macau Black Bears for an exhibition game on July 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. One of the players who will be suiting up for Macau is Filipino-American Quentin Millora-Brown. The 6-foot-10 center led the UP Fighting Maroons to their fourth UAAP championship in 2024.

Due to Kai Sotto's injury, Gilas Pilipinas was left with a huge void to fill for the FIBA Asia Cup. Millora-Brown had already expressed interest in playing for the national team. A few days ago, FIBA made its decision and deemed QMB ineligible to play for Gilas as a local.

For coach Tim Cone, though, he would love to have QMB play for Gilas but stressed that FIBA's decision on the 6-foot-10 center eligibility was beyond their control.

"Well, I mean, obviously, we would love to have him [Quentin Millora-Brown]. At 6'10", we would love to have that kind of size and ability in our team. I mean that's a no-doubter. But the bottom line is that we have not been able to get him eligible through his paperwork at this point," Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone said in an interview with Sporty Noob on Thursday. "We're still working on it. We're still trying to do things because we're really desperate to have him, but the bottom line is that at this point, it's out of our control. We're not going to worry about that. We're going to worry about who we have."

Cone added, "Like I said, we would absolutely love to have him, but at this point it's not possible, so we're not going to, you know, really think about that as much. We'll let the SBP and all those guys worry about that. We'll deal with who we have at this point."