MANILA, Philippines — TIM Cone won't be left behind and will be part of the celebration when the PBA Press Corps holds its 30th Awards Night this coming week at the Novotel Manila Araneta City. The 66-year-old coach is going to be the recipient of the President's Award on Sept. 24 for the work he has done guiding the renewed Gilas Pilipinas men's basketball team. Coming off a memorable golden triumph in last year's 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, the national team picked up from where it left off and opened its campaign in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers on a high note. The Filipinos got off to a rousing start in the tournament by beating Hong Kong on the road, 94-64, before whipping Chinese Taipei at home, 106-53. That was just the tip of the iceberg as Gilas Pilipinas later in the year pulled off one of its major feats in international basketball. The Philippine team stunned world no. 6 Latvia at home, 89-80, in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the capital city of Riga. The upset was enough for the Filipinos to earn a berth in the semis and move two wins away from earning an elusive berth back to the Olympics. Unfortunately, it failed to sustain a strong first half and lost to Brazil in the semis, 71-60. Still Cone was deemed deserving of the award by the group of sportswriters covering the PBA beat under its president Vladi Eduarte of the Abante Group of Publishing for the major effort he's been doing calling the shots for Gilas Pilipinas and at the same time, coaching the Barangay Ginebra Kings. The champion coach will be joining past recipients of the President's Award that include the entire PBA Board, Gilas Pilipinas men's basketball, and PBA great and now Bulakan, Bulacan Mayor Vergel Meneses. TMT