"We feel you guys are our best guns."
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone was candid in his tone when he addressed the Gilas Pilipinas players in Day 1 of their training inside the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.
They have exactly a week before the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers against Hong Kong on February 22 and against Chinese Taipei on February 25.
"We want to stay together. We will battle through all the issues that we have," Cone told his players.
"We hope to reach our potential, and that means we're gonna have failures. Not everything's gonna be smooth. Not everybody's gonna be happy all the time. You hate it when you lose, you hate it when you're missing shots, or you blow your defensive assignment. We're gonna go through it."
"The whole idea is we stick together. That's not something we've ever done as a national team. We feel that if we can do that and bring out our best guns—we feel you guys are our best guns—we can compete on the world stage," Cone said.
Ten players named on the Gilas Pilipinas 12 were present on Day 1: AJ Edu, Calvin Oftana, Kevin Quiambao, Scottie Thompson, Kai Sotto, Chris Newsome, Carl Tamayo, Dwight Ramos, Jamie Malonzo, and Justin Brownlee.
Barangay Ginebra players Ralph Cu and Don Gumaru were also present to help out, as well as Japeth Aguilar.
June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez are expected to follow, after the San Miguel Beermen won their 29th PBA title on Wednesday night.
Fans can watch Gilas Pilipinas vs Chinese Taipei on February 25, 7:30 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena. Tickets are available via smtickets.net
You can also watch the games live on One Sports and the Pilipinas Live app.