The tuneup games against Poland and Turkey will go a long way in Gilas’ preparation for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Carl Tamayo admitted that Gilas Pilipinas has their work cut out for them.
This despite the Nationals' 74-64 win over Taiwan Mustangs in the send-off friendly last Monday, June 24.
“We’re not there yet. Hindi pa ganoon ka-solid,” said Tamayo when asked about the team’s readiness for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament days from now.
Gilas is gearing up for the July 2 to 7 competition in Latvia where a lone Paris 2024 berth is on the line.
Eager to join the country’s Centennial Team, the Filipino dribblers will take on heavyweights Georgia and the host country in the preliminary round.
While Tamayo believes that the team is not quite ready yet, he is hopeful that their stops in Turkey and Poland will help them improve.
“I think sa mga games naming parating sa Europe, I think we will be better. Hopefully, we’ll improve, we’ll learn, and be able to win games in the OQT,” he said.
Cone shared the same sentiment.
“I hope to see improvement, I hope to see us get better on both sides of the ball. You saw us today. We didn't play as sharp as we wanted,” the seasoned tactician told reporters after the match against the Mustangs at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
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Cone hopes to test his charges against Poland and Turkey's complete rosters to get a better feel of where they are at this point of their buildup for the OQT.
“I love it. Poland's No. 15 in the World so they're going to give us a good feel, and Turkey's No. 24 but they're much better if their NBA guys show up,” said Cone.
“I don't know if their NBA guys are going to show up because they're not preparing for the OQT. Poland's preparing for the OQT in Valencia. Turkey is just preparing for the Euro qualifiers. So they may have the full team there. It should be a great indication by the time we get to Riga.”
(With reports from Gillian Trinidad, One Sports Digital)