"I'm totally shocked to be sitting here," Tim Cone admitted after Gilas Pilipinas defeated Latvia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Before Gilas Pilipinas faced host Latvia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT), coach Tim Cone addressed the elephant in the room... well, court.
"If we don't get this game tomorrow, we can't bring it to the next game," Cone told his players.
"We gotta take this one," he said, motioning towards his left before stepping aside and moving his hands towards the right side, "Then we gotta take this one."
"That can't affect us going into Georgia, fellas. That can't," he emphasized.
The subtext was pretty clear. Latvia, after all, had demolished Georgia in the opening game of the OQT. And Gilas Pilipinas lost two tune-up games to Turkey and Poland.
Latvia was also THE team to beat, as the world number six.
So Tim Cone preached what every coach has preached in every start of a tournament: One game at a time.
"We always talk about that idea, one game at a time. But never is it more true in this kind of situation, fellas," he said.
A few hours later, and the crowd in Riga got the shock of their life.
World number 37 Philippines went on an 8-0 run and was up by 16 by halftime.
There was a moment in the second frame when Gilas was up by 18. CJ Perez had missed a couple of shots.
Rodions Kurucs and Arturs Strautins capitalized to create five points for Latvia.
Cone had to call timeout and immediately yelled at his players, berating them for their "terrible shots."
He hit the board for emphasis, "This is too important for us. Too important!"
"I trust you out there, but I trust you to make decisions out there!" Cone yelled.
Gilas never looked back, handing world number six Latvia an 89-80 defeat. It was the first victory for the Philippines against a European opponent in a FIBA-sanctioned competition since 1960.
"I'm totally shocked to be sitting here in front of you guys after winning this basketball game. This is not something we thought we were going to do, I'll be honest with you. We wanted to come in and compete and put on a good show," Cone said during the postgame press conference.
He noted that Latvia missed shots--only making 10 of 43 triples.
They also sorely missed the services of key playmaker Arturs Zagars, which Cone said was "huge" for the Philippines.
"Got to credit our guys and their defense. I mean, we were doing our best trying to defend everybody. But still, I'll be honest. I really am shocked to be here," he said.
Still, it's only one game for Gilas. Cone's measure of success would be reaching the semifinals, at least back in May.
That means beating Georgia on Thursday night. Or at least losing by 18 points or less.
But in Riga, Cone wants to win the whole thing and secure that lone Olympic berth up for grabs.
"We didn't come here to win one game. We hopefully can move on and get to the next round, and have a chance to maybe play Latvia again in the finals," he said.
It won't be easy. Georgia is bigger than Latvia and could spell trouble for bigs like June Mar Fajardo and Kai Sotto.
Another question is whether veteran Tornike Shengelia--who didn't suit up against Latvia due to muscle fatigue--would be playing against the Philippines.
"They had a day off between games, so they're gonna come out with great energy. They're gonna be really locked in to come and beat us," he shared with Cignal TV/One Sports.
So the tired old adage of "one game at a time" is still in effect. It sounds different now.
"That can't affect us going into Georgia, fellas. That can't," Cone said before the Latvia game. It still applies before the Georgia game.
It's still one game at a time.
Gilas Pilipinas will take on Georgia on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. It will air LIVE on One Sports, RPTV, and the Pilipinas Live app.
(With reports from Nic Earnshaw/Cignal TV, One Sports)