Yet again, time is not on the side of Gilas Pilipinas.
Gilas Pilipinas was already facing a strict schedule ahead of the Asian Games, then things went from bad to worse with a massive shakeup in the lineup just days before the tournament.
The national team welcomed five new players as Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, Jason Perkins, and Mo Tautuaa's clearance became questionable. New Gilas manager Alfracis Chua promised that the squad will not back down and is asking for support from fans despite the tricky and difficult situation.
Gilas ramps up its preparation in their bubble training at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna. Before the shakeup in the lineup, coach Tim Cone bared in an interview with One Sports how the squad is doubling down on practices to make up for the short amount of days before the Asiad.
"Normally I only like to practice for an hour and a half with [the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel]. Even the old days with the Alaska and Purefoods [franchises]. We didn't have long practices," Cone said.
"But because of our time, we're doing almost three and a half hour practices. And then we come back again do two, three hours again."
The veteran coach and winningest PBA tactician has full confidence in this iteration of the national team but acknowledges that there's more work to be done.
"These guys are really putting in the work. We still have a lot to do. We're just trying to get our execution down. Making people comfortable in execution. Whether the shots are falling in or not, that's not our concern, but rather getting quality shots."