Handa pa rin si coach Tim Cone para sa isa pang tour of duty bilang head coach ng Gilas Pilipinas sa mga paparating na international tournaments.
Si Cone, na gumabay sa mga Pinoy sa kanilang unang korona sa Asian Games sa loob ng 61 taon, ay nagsabing handa siyang muling magsikap, sa paniniwalang dapat magkaroon ng pagpapatuloy sa programa ng pambansang koponan.
“I think continuity is the most important thing for the national team to become successful,” sabi ni Cone sa sidelines ng Philippine Basketball Association Press Corps Awards noong Lunes. “I’ve always said that 15, 20, 25 years ago.”
Sinabi ni Cone ideya na niya iyon nang i-coach niya ang Centennial Team sa isang bronze medal sa Bangkok Asian Games noong 1998.
“Back in 1998, when I was coaching the Philippine Team, I said that continuity is going to be the most important facet to the success of the program,” saad ni Cone.
Bagama’t hindi pa nakakapagdesisyon ang Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas kung sino ang hahawak sa Gilas sa Olympic Qualifying Tournament sa susunod na taon, iginiit ni Cone na handa siyang makinig sa panawagan.
“Now, where will continuity start? I just think that whoever they decide to get, you’re going to have to stick with that guy through thick and thin and not judge it by winning or losing,” sabi ni Cone. “But the continuity, I’ve said that so many times, but we still don’t have it, I just really believe it has to be developed in the program and it will be the key to success.”
Binigyang-diin niya na hindi dapat husgahan ang Gilas coach sa agarang resulta.
“You judge it by the development of the program and keeping that continuity together. It’s a tough job. You’ve seen how hard it is on Chot, on Yeng (Guiao) in the World Cup in 2019. It was even tougher for Tab (Baldwin), who got a lot of flak when the team broke apart. It was a good one, but in the end, it was hard for him as well,” he said, adding that being the national mentor isn’t easy,” sabi ni Cone.
“It’s not an easy job. It’s a complex job. We’ll see where it goes from here at this point,” dagdag niya.
Alam ni Cone na sakaling magdesisyon ang SBP na magtalaga ng bagong mentor, mayroon na siyang inside track dahil technically pa rin siya ang Gilas mentor.
“I’ll try to help the program anyway I can,” sabi ni Cone. “Whether that’s going to be a reality or not, that hasn’t been spoke of or decided. As of now, I still believe I’m the interim coach because they haven’t named anybody at this point. I’ll stick with that tag until the bigwigs decide otherwise.”
