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Cone clarifies Baltazar situation, apologizes for 'hasty remarks'

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Justine Baltazar in action for Gilas Pilipinas against Indonesia in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. FIBA/File." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/09/09/09092023-justine-baltazar.jpg"/><figcaption>Justine Baltazar in action for Gilas Pilipinas against Indonesia in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. <em>FIBA/File</em>.</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone has apologized to Justine Baltazar and his handler, Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda, for saying that the player apparently &quot;lacked interest&quot; to join the national team.</p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t want to start off this journey with a controversy, so I&#x27;m going to do my best to clarify it,&quot; said Cone in a series on posts on his <a href="https://twitter.com/manilacone/status/1700392924260012165">Twitter/X account</a>. </p><p>&quot;I apologize to Justine Baltazar for my hasty remarks regarding his exclusion from the World Cup pool. I did not mean to infer that he didn&#x27;t want to play for Gilas, but rather I was told that we (someone from the SBP--not sure who) called him or his representatives and he was not available.&quot;</p><p>Cone said they needed someone like the 6-foot-9 Baltazar in the FIBA World Cup because they lacked the ceiling needed to be competitive in the tournament.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/07/23/gilas-to-fill-gaps-left-by-kai-and-co-for-asian-games">Gilas to fill gaps left by Kai and company for Asian Games</a></li></ul><p>&quot;We really wanted him at the time because Kai [Sotto] was a question mark and we were lacking bigs. Now whether he had reasons for not joining us, or if there was miscommunication or whether he was actually not called at all, I do not know because I was not part of the process to contact him, and I spoke out of order in the press conference.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I loved watching Justine play in La Salle but have not met the young man, nor have I met or spoken to Mr. Pineda. But to both I apologize. It was not my intention to run Justine&#x27;s name through this controversy. In fact, I wanted to mention at the time of the press conference how much we had thought of him joining the pool. The kid can play!&quot;</p><p>Cone was earlier quoted as saying they have been pursuing the former De La Salle Green Archer but the latter was &quot;never available.&quot;</p><p>This prompted a reaction from Baltazar&#x27;s camp, denying the coach&#x27;s statement.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/07/23/tim-cone-replaces-chot-as-gilas-pilipinas-coach">Tim Cone replaces Chot as Gilas Pilipinas coach</a></li></ul><p>“Sobra po akong nasasaktan, kasi ako na nga po hindi na-invite kahit gustong-gusto ko tapos ngayon ako pa po ang bina-bash ng tao dahil akala ng lahat, ayaw ko daw,” said Baltazar in a report by Spin.ph</p><p>“Available naman po ako for the World Cup, kaso wala naman pong tawag,” added Baltazar, who plays for the Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the MPBL.</p><p>Pineda, for his part, said the kid has been readily available since the MPBL was on a break for weeks to give way for the FIBA World Cup.</p><p>“Wag nilang sabihin na ayaw ni Balti maglaro sa Gilas kahit kailan, dahil ako pa mismo ang isa sa mga unang team owners na nag-suggest sa MPBL na mag-break para sa World Cup. Kasi that time, akala ko kukunin nila si Balti,” said Pineda.</p><p>Baltazar was a key part of the Tab Baldwin-coached Gilas Pilipinas squad that competed in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia in 2020.</p><p>In his two stints with the national team, Baltazar has averaged 7.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sKTymIUWOps?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone has apologized to Justine Baltazar and his handler for saying that the player apparently 'lacked interest' to join the national team.