Why Cone sat out China game

MANILA, Philippines — It seemed strange that Gilas head coach Tim Cone didn’t call the shots against China at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games last Monday. Instead, assistant coach Richard del Rosario was at the helm. Not that Cone shirked away from the responsibility. He faced the music in the end and felt the pain of the 105-61 loss like everyone else on the embattled brigade.

“We were running a system that we believed fit the team but one in which I personally didn’t fully understand all the nuances of,” said Cone. “I knew the optics wouldn’t look great for me but we, as a staff, felt it was better if I gave up the lead. If you remember, I wasn’t with the team at the start because of the FIBA window. I joined them only in Korea. Coach Richard validated that decision against Kazakhstan when the team responded and played great. I coached the loss against Bahrain but honestly, as it turned out, it really didn’t matter who coached against China. We were overmatched. That was plain to see.”

Leading Gilas to Nagoya was a decision that Cone made while sacrificing family time. His son Kevin got married in the US during the Asian Games group stage. And after Gilas was eliminated, Cone didn’t rush out to visit the newly-married couple. “PBA is right around the corner and Ginebra is already practicing so no time to visit,” said Cone. The Governors’ Cup will resume on Oct. 7 and Ginebra will mark its return against Rain or Shine at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Oct. 9. Whether or not Justin Brownlee will play for Ginebra is uncertain. “Not sure about Justin,” noted Cone. “He may be mulling retirement. Our import status is still a question mark.”

Del Rosario, who also assists Cone with Ginebra, said the pain of losing when representing the country hits differently because aside from the sting of defeat, knowing that you let your countrymen down makes it worse. “We just didn’t have the size to match up with China and the Bahrain imports,” he said. “Maybe, in the next few days, all of the problems we encountered leading to Nagoya will be addressed.”

Even the journey to the Asian Games from Korea where Gilas played two tune-up games was compromised. Del Rosario, assistant coach Josh Reyes and team official Yvette Ruiz were stranded in Korea without Asian Games IDs, which serve as visas, while the rest of the team flew out. Assistant coach Patrick Partosa had to fly from Nagoya back to Korea to personally hand their IDs. While the team settled in early on the Nagoya trip, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial volunteered to do the players laundry. Then, Calvin Oftana joined the team as a late entry days before the first game.