Cone not making a big deal of Gilas’ tough draw in World Cup qualifiers

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For Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone, the goal is to advance to the FIBA World Cup, regardless of the opponents

MANILA, Philippines – Head coach Tim Cone on Friday, May 16, said he does not make a big deal of the groupings for the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers after Gilas Pilipinas got bunched with pair of top 25 teams.

The Philippines faces an uphill climb in the first round as it faces world No. 7 Australia and No. 22 New Zealand in Group A, which also includes Guam.

For Cone, the Nationals’ goal is to advance to the World Cup for the fourth straight edition, regardless of the opponents.

“[B]ottomline is we don’t have any control over that. We deal with who we have. We’re not going to feel bad about it or even get excited about it. It’s a job ahead of us and we’ll do what we have to do to make it,” Cone said.

Cone said he did not even stay up late to watch the draw, held last Tuesday, May 13, in Doha, Qatar, which will host the World Cup.

During the draw, Gilas had a chance to be grouped with world No. 21 Japan, No. 30 China, and No. 73 Chinese Taipei, which eventually composed Group B together with No. 53 South Korea.

“Whether it be Australia, whether it be Guam, whether it be Taiwan, Korea, doesn’t matter. It’s whoever’s in front of us, we’ll take care of it. I’m not making a big deal as much as everybody else is about the draw,” said Cone.

Seven World Cup berths are up for grabs in Asia, with host Qatar earning an automatic spot.

The top three from each of the four groups will advance to the second round, with the 12 qualified teams to be divided into two groups of six, their records from the first round carried over.

In the Philippines’ case, Group A will cross over with teams from Group C, which is made up of world No. 28 Iran, No. 35 Jordan, No. 71 Syria, and No. 92 Iraq.

The top three from each of the two second-round groups and the best fourth-placed team will punch their World Cup tickets.

“Basically in our minds, maybe 9 or 10 teams that are going to really compete for those 7 and we just got to be in the top 7 of those 10. That’s the job,” said Cone.

“That’s not necessarily about beating Australia or beating New Zealand or beating Guam, it’s about getting in and qualifying. However way it takes us to do that, we’re going to fight really hard to do that.”

Gilas will open its Asian Qualifiers campaign with back-to-back games against New Zealand in the first window in November.

But before that, Cone and the Nationals will compete in the FIBA Asia Cup to be hosted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in August. – Rappler.com