By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings head coach Earl Timothy “Tim” Cone has been designated as the interim head coach of the Gilas Pilipinas for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, later this month.
According to the winningest PBA head coach, his current job order from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is until the Asiad, after which they will explore other options in the future.
“At this point, I’m just the interim coach through the Asian Games, and then I’ll give the SBP time to explore and figure out which direction they want to go,” Cone said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, September 7.
“There’s only one thing we’re thinking about, and that’s the gold medal,” he said.
“But it’s about a day-to-day process to get us there. That’s important to us right now. The gold medal is important now, but the process as well,” he added.
The 65-year-old Cone will be coaching Team Philippines for the second time in the Asiad since leading the Centennial Team to a bronze in 1998, the last time the country landed a podium finish in the tournament.
The appointment of Cone came days after he declared that he was not interested in the Gilas Pilipinas head coaching job to focus on the Gin Kings’ title defense in the 2023 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
This was the second time that Cone was named interim coach of the Philippine team after also being called to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games to replace resigned Joseller “Yeng” Guiao.
Richard del Rosario will serve as one of Cone’s assistant coaches, along with Gin Kings guard LA Tenorio, Joseph Uichico, and Reyes’ son Josh Reyes.
San Miguel Corporation sports director Alfrancis Chua will serve as Gilas’ team manager for the Asiad.
Gilas Pilipinas is hoping to do better than the Jordan Clarkson-reinforced Rain or Shine Elasto Painters-Philippines’ fifth-place finish in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
Team Philippines is bracketed with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-led Jordan, Southeast Asian Games rival Thailand, and Bahrain in the initial stage of the tournament./ASC, WDJ