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The Gilas Pilipinas battles against Chinese Taipei in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Pasig City on Frbruary 25, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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Gilas Pilipinas still has a long way to go, says Tim Cone

Kennedy Caacbay

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/20240225-fiba-gilas-taipei-MD-0834.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Gilas Pilipinas players face the PhilSports Arena crowd after their victory against Chinese Taipei in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. <strong id="isPasted"><em>Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</em></strong></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA – Coach Tim Cone is tempering expectations after Gilas Pilipinas&#x27; masterful performance in the first window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.</p><p>&quot;I just wanna also say: make no mistake, we have a long ways to go,&quot; Cone said after the Nationals&#x27; impressive 106-53 triumph against Chinese Taipei on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/2/25/fiba-gilas-overpowers-chinese-taipei-to-defend-home-turf-2106">FIBA: Gilas overpowers Chinese Taipei to defend home turf</a></div><p>Not only did Gilas replicate their 94-64 victory against Hong Kong, China on the road last Thursday, but they did so in front of the Filipino faithful in Pasig City.</p><p>Cone gave credit to his cogs&#x27; defensive mindset as they gifted the home crowd a victory.</p><p>&quot;We demanded from everybody that you can&#x27;t be on this team if you can&#x27;t play both sides of the ball,&quot; Cone stressed.</p><p>Chinese Taipei suffered a 29.6 percent shooting in the field compared to Gilas&#x27; whopping 55.1 percent and also turned the ball over 16 times.</p><p>&quot;You know, we are all offensive stars, but if you&#x27;re not going to play out defensively, then you&#x27;re gonna stay on this team very long. And right now we got 12 guys committed to the defensive side, so I&#x27;m really proud of this team, so far,&quot; he added.</p><p>When the dust settled in the first window, Gilas had a combined lead of 83 points in two games — but for the PBA&#x27;s winningest coach, his troops did not put on a show.</p><p>Instead, they only worked hard for the &quot;pretty game&quot; they had against our neighbors up north.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/2/22/gilas-dismantles-hong-kong-to-start-strong-in-asia-cup-qualifiers-2142">Gilas dismantles Hong Kong to start strong in Asia Cup qualifiers</a></div><p>&quot;I mean this was a pretty game tonight, we went out there, we didn&#x27;t go out there to make a show for everybody. We didn&#x27;t go out there to show how good we are. We just want to go out there and work. It just turned out that way.&quot;</p><p>Looking forward, Cone said this victory is only the first step as the Filipino ballers embark on his four-year program for the men&#x27;s national basketball team.</p><p>&quot;But we also realized we have a lot of work ahead of us, and a long ways to go,&quot; Cone said.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div> <span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HZOSNYrp_gM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div>

<p>Coach Tim Cone is tempering expectations after Gilas Pilipinas' masterful performance in the first window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.</p>

Coach Tim Cone is tempering expectations after Gilas Pilipinas' masterful performance in the first window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.