Defense, chemistry are what Tim Cone feels will be Gilas strengths

With a four-year road map in hand, the new-look Gilas Pilipinas squad finally plunged into training, looking to forge ahead with chemistry and defense as its bread and butter.

The Nationals opened camp on Thursday behind the closed doors of Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, priming and plotting against Hong Kong and Chinese-Taipei for the first window of the Fiba (International Basketball Federation) Asia Cup Qualifiers seen as a warmup tournament before they figure in high-stakes tournaments like the Paris Olympic Qualifiers in Latvia in July.

“If we’re defending and we are sharing the ball, those are indicators that we are growing and we’ll get better,” national coach Tim Cone said in a recent web-radio interview.

“We’re going to be a team that moves the ball a lot—probably more than people would want us to,” he went on. “In the meantime, we want guys to be really dedicated on the defensive side … [I]t’s not something taken as seriously as it was in the past, and I think that it could be a difference-maker for our team.”A quick scan of the roster should give both casual fans and pundits an idea that this newest assembly of the National Five is capable of heeding Cone’s call, as it features a wealth of scorers who can also play defense.

Tip of the sword

Leading that cast is seven-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, who is expected to join the camp after a quick trip to celebrate his recent PBA title conquest with his family in Cebu.

And then there is Justin Brownlee, the indefatigable naturalized forward and Asian Games hero who is set to reprise his role after hurdling a three-month doping ban.

“Justin looked in top shape despite not having played for a few months,” Samahan Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio told the Inquirer. “He is equally excited to be a part of the national team [again].”

Brownlee himself underscored the team’s abundance of dynamic players in his first media scrum a week ago since going through a voluntary three-month ban for his flunked Asian Games doping test.

This long-haul cast, which is geared toward making the next Fiba World Cup in Qatar and hopefully the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, also features the towering duo of Kai Sotto and AJ Edu, big guard Dwight Ramos, Brownlee’s equally tireless Ginebra teammate Scottie Thompson, along with CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, Jamie Malonzo and Calvin Oftana.

Completing the cast that will be first tested by Hong Kong on Feb. 22 are young, but highly versatile forwards Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao.

“I am very excited for this team. It’s a mix of experienced, championship-caliber veterans and impressive, ultratalented young players. Of course, led by the winningest basketball coach in the country,” said Panlilio, who was present during the opening of camp.“It will be a journey for this team. They will not be great immediately, but the possibilities are enormous if we can keep this group together for the next few years,” he added.

The first steps of that journey are looking like a breeze for Gilas. The Philippines whipped Hong Kong by 51 points, while Chinese-Taipei by 22 points in their respective previous matches.

Making things look even rosier for the Nationals is some personnel trouble brewing within quarters of the Taiwanese, whom they will host on Feb. 25 at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

Chinese-Taipei fixture Cheng Liu, in an Instagram post on Thursday, revealed that nearly half of the squad left training to return to their mother clubs and prepare for their respective leagues.

“Is this really a team ready to play next week?” his caption read. “They selected brand new people … it feels like a temporary group.”“Looking at a lot of good moments in the past that could have been better, why has [it] become this way?”