YOUNG but promising.
With two big targets in the next four years–the FIBA World Cup in 2027 in Qatar and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone will pin his hopes on the team’s upstart cagers such as Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, and Mason Amos, to spell the big difference in the future.
“Kevin is an absolutely huge part of this program. He is, without a doubt, our future,” Cone said of the 6-foot-7 La Salle star and the reigning UAAP MVP.
“Within a year or two, he will be the veteran of this group and some of the veterans that we have are gonna get a little bit older,” he added.
Cone said some of the current mainstays of the squad will not likely be available in the future.
“Some of the vets will not be available for the World Cup. That’s just the way you build the team, right?” Cone posed.
“I can’t guarantee that the 12 guys that we have now are gonna be the same 12 four years from now.”
The Nationals are training their sights on the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Gilas will play a pair of home games against New Zealand on Nov. 21 and Hong Kong three days later both at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“We want to keep the core intact as possible,” Cone said. “Kevin and Carl really represent that core of players that we want to grow in the system and become the future stars of the Gilas team, so they are very, very important.”
Cone is also hoping Amos, who did not see action in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Riga, will soon grasp his system.
“I feel very bad about this, but we never got Mason Amos to play and one of the reasons we didn’t get him to play was because he was new to the team and we didn’t really get him into the system well enough,” he said.
“We’re hoping that he learned now in the OQT, and he’ll now bring that experience. When he comes into the third window, he already knows the system and is ready to play.”
