MANILA, Philippines: Tim Cone has been into coaching long enough to know that reaching the destination is far more important than how the team starts.
No wonder, Cone admitted that Gilas Pilipinas' 30-point win over Hong Kong to open the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers was nothing more than a "baby step."
And he reasoned that the slow start, which saw Gilas blow an early 11-point first-quarter lead was somehow due to first-game jitters, having been only together for about a week.
"We didn't play as well as we hoped. The first half was certainly shaky, just first game jitters, I hope," Cone told the Manila Times.
But after the halftime break, where the Philippines took a slim 41-37 during intermission, Cone's charges opened the third canto with a business-like approach.
Scottie Thompson facilitated Gilas' offense, Kai Sotto took care of the boards and interior defense, while Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos and Jamie Malonzo lit up the scoreboard from three-point zone, leading to a lopsided 30-9 blitz in the third quarter that all but settled the outcome.
"The third quarter was more on what we expected. We were able to create offense off our defense and then our crowd took over and gave us momentum," stressed Cone, back in the helm after steering Gilas to the Asian Games gold in 2023 in Hangzhou, China.
"The win was a baby step for us, we hope to be much better in the future."
Sotto had a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds, Brownlee led the team in scoring with 26, Kevin Quiambao added 15 off the bench, Malonzo added 11, while Thompson posted nine assists.
The Philippines didn't have Gilas veteran June Mar Fajardo and 6-foot-10 big man AJ Edu as both bigs are nursing separate injuries. But their absence hardly mattered as Gilas dominated the boards, 56-32, while the team held a massive 33-12 advantage in the assist department.
Cone and Gilas looks to build on the baby step victory over Hong Kong with another win cone Sunday when the Philippines hosts Taiwan at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.