Gilas coach Tim Cone is confident his players will step up in the absence of former PBA MVP Scottie Thompson.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is not making a big deal out of filling the void left by injured Scottie Thompson ahead of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
After all, talent is not in short supply for the national team heading into the competition in Latvia.
Among the players Cone thinks is very much capable of taking on that role is Dwight Ramos.
“We’re going to have Dwight to help us out on the backcourt. He played the wing for us when we had Scottie, but he’s moving to the backcourt,” Cone said this in the aftermath of a 74-64 win over Taiwan Mustangs in the send-off friendly match on Monday, June 24.
“He gives us great size. And you know, he’s still capable of scoring from that position.”
[RELATED STORY: Dwight Ramos leads Gilas Pilipinas in win vs. Taiwan Mustangs ahead of FIBA OQT]
Thompson begged off at the last minute owing to a recurring back injury that had also forced him to miss some games in the recently-concluded PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup.
To fill his shoes, Cone tried to bring in TNT star RR Pogoy. Visa problems prevented them from doing so, though.
[ALSO READ: FIBA OQT: Tim Cone explains why Gilas couldn’t bring in RR Pogoy, others to fill Scottie Thompson void]
Still, Cone doesn’t really feel shorthanded at this point.
Apart from Ramos, the winningest coach in the PBA can also count on Chris Newsome and CJ Perez, who are fresh from a thrilling Philippine Cup finale which the former won.
“We feel Dwight is capable… New is obviously very capable. And I’m really pleasantly surprised with CJ. CJ's handling and seeing our offense really, really well,” he said.
Cone added the triangle system doesn’t exactly require a pure point guard.
“We don’t play a pure point guard in our system… If you look at the triangle over the years, we didn’t really use a pure point guard,” he said.
“Even LA (Tenorio) is not a pure point guard in our system, Johnny Abarrientos wasn’t a pure point guard in our system, where we have a lot of single high, dribble drive. It's different for us.”
[ALSO READ: Tim Cone shares how they brought in FEU's Sean Chambers as Gilas Pilipinas assistant coach]
That’s why Cone remains upbeat even with an 11-man roster before the OQT unfurls on July 2.
“Going with 10, 11 guys? Not a problem for us,” said Cone.
(With reports from Gillian Trinidad, One Sports Digital)