EUROPEAN YARDSTICK: Cone intrigued by Turkey, Poland friendlies

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone will take advantage of the two European friendlies this month to gauge where his team is heading into the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July.

Cone is now focused on plotting his program to whip Gilas into competitive form following Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s sorry exit in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals.

Gilas is set to fly to Istanbul on 25 June to play the world No. 24 Turkish national squad before traveling to Eastern Europe for another friendly against world No. 15 Poland as part of their preparations for the OQT scheduled for 2 to 7 July in Riga, Latvia.

“Just those two friendlies right there will give us the right feel (of where we are),” Cone said in a recent interview posted on the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Facebook page.

He wants to see what aspect of their game they can improve leading up to Gilas’ Latvian sortie where they will face in Group A world No. 6 ranked host team and world No. 23 Georgia for a ticket to the Paris Olympics slated 26 July to 11 August.

“I think, you know, “Can we compete? What do we need to do to compete?” And one of the missing pieces that we might need in terms of game planning and such going into the Latvia OQT.”

Gilas open their training camp on 21 June at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.

“We’re going to seclusion there and try to get about six to eight practices in. Then we’ll leave for Istanbul on the 25th,” Cone said.

The Filipinos open their OQT campaign against Latvia on 3 July before playing Georgia the following day.

“That’s gonna be a challenge and then we’re gonna play Georgia which is the 23rd (in the world) so right around where Turkey is. And from there we’ll find out whether we can get into the crossover,” Cone said.

Despite the tall order, Cone has kept a positive mindset of realizing the country’s Olympic dream since its last Summer Games appearance in the 1972 edition in Munich.

“We’ve looked at the teams. They all are really, really good. They’re big, they’re athletic but they’re not impossible (to beat),” he said.

The top two teams after the preliminary round will advance into the knock semifinals against the top two in Group B composed of Brazil, Cameroon and Montenegro.

The OQT winner will secure a berth to the French capital to join powerhouse USA, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan and France.

“It’s gonna be tough but they’re not impossible in my mind,” Cone said.

“We’ll see. I know I’m really excited. The players are super excited about it and we’re like chomping on the bit to get back on 21 June.”

Cone is keeping most of the core of the Gilas squad that won the gold medal in last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games led by