Gilas Pilipinas faltered to Chinese Taipei, staining its once immaculate 4-0 record in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone took responsibility for the squad's loss to Chinese Taipei, 84-91, in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium Thursday, Feb. 20.
Cone took to social media to express more of his thoughts about the match, saying that he should have prepared the Filipino dribblers better as they knew that the retooled Taiwanese were a much better team this time.
[RELATED STORY: Gilas coach Cone tips hat to 'very impressive' Chinese Taipei: 'They were well-deserving']
In the first window of the qualifiers last year, the Nationals had an easier time in disposing of their foes, 106-53.
"No one feels worse about this devastating loss than I do, and I take full ownership of it," wrote Cone on X Friday morning, Feb. 21.
"We knew they were going to be much improved from the last time we played them, but they were even better than we thought. That's on me. No doubt, I should have prepared us better."
[WATCH: Gilas Pilipinas fall to Chinese Taipei in FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers]
But it was a different story this time as the Pinoy quintet faced a Chinese Taipei side which only had three players retained from their previous roster in their first meeting a year ago, and is now boasting of Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga, of Senegalese-American descent but was raised in Taiwan and is now classified as a local, and naturalized player Brandon Gilbeck.
Gadiaga punished Gilas in the second quarter, unleashing Chinese Taipei's first ten points in the frame that helped it build an early 13-point separation, 35-22.
Gilbeck, meanwhile, played sparingly in the first half but made his presence felt in the last 20 minutes of action, firing eight points, capped by a dunk that slammed the door on the Filipinos and iced the final score.
Gadiaga led with 21 points alongside fellow topscorer Ting-Chien Lin. The 6-foot-2 forward also had four boards, one assist and two steals.
The 7-foot Gilbeck scored on a 4-for-5 clip he topped with eight rebounds, one dime, one steal and a whopping five blocks.
As for Gilas, it drew a monster 39 points, six rebounds, eight assists and one steal from Justin Brownlee, but sorely missed the services of sidelined Kai Sotto.
[RELATED STORY: With Kai Sotto ruled out for Gilas, Tim Cone looks to find solutions in Doha tournament]
Sotto produced 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the first window against Chinese Taipei.
Cone admitted that while he wished he would have approached the match differently, the only way now for the squad is to move forward.
"There is obviously a lot that I would have done differently in that game if given another chance, but that is not possible now. Only thing we can do at this point is move on. I will be better. We will be better," Cone went on.
And what lay ahead is fellow Asia Cup-bound New Zealand, whom the Nationals beat for the first time via a historic 93-89 shocker in the second window last November.
They meet anew on Sunday, Feb. 23., at the Spark Arena in Auckland.
Gilas and New Zealand now share the leadership of Group B with their identical 4-1 marks following the Filipinos' loss to Chinese Taipei that tainted their perfect slate.