For the first time in the second Tim Cone era of the Philippine Men’s National Basketball Team, there is a feeling of disappointment with Gilas Pilipinas. 

The Philippines entered the latest window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers with nothing to lose given that they had already qualified for the tournament and were not at full strength. Kai Sotto is out for the year as he recovers from a torn left ACL, while AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo continue to work their way back from long layoffs following their respective medical issues. Troy Rosario was also a last-minute exclusion due to a swollen knee. 

Nonetheless, it still felt as if Gilas came away with great losses. 

Gilas Pilipinas played from behind in pretty much every game and fell victim to stellar shooting performances from Chinese Taipei and New Zealand. 

These losses were also on top of the uneven performance of the Philippines in the Doha International Cup, where a come-from-behind victory over Qatar was followed up by blowout losses to Lebanon and Egypt. 

Going 1-4 in this international window was surprising in itself, but what made it worse was that all but one of those losses were blowouts. Fans were concerned, especially given how the core of Gilas remained intact sans Sotto. Moreover, their opponents took no chances and made deliberate plans to stymie Gilas Pilipinas and limit Justin Brownlee. 

There was clamor for change and perhaps that makes sense. But how much change must be made? 

When you look at the bigger picture, there’s a ton of good with this bunch. The Philippines beat teams ranked ahead of them and even those in the top 10, won games when it counted, and brought hope back to fans looking for a good team to root for. 

So rather than blowing things up for the nth time, why not build on it? 

The calls for an expanded Gilas pool have gotten louder and while the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) may have trauma with a bigger pool, it won’t hurt to expand the pool to prepare against injuries and potential absences. The SBP is already working on the papers for Quentin Millora-Brown and while that is ongoing, they could work on the papers of Fil-foreign PBA players who have played enough years in the league to earn local eligibility from FIBA. Meanwhile, the  federation may also want to consider adding players like William Navarro, JP Erram, Justin Arana, Robert Bolick, and Andre Caracut for depth in the near term. 

Coordination with the PBA is also a must, because a quick training camp may not be enough given how the rest of the region is catching up. Gilas Pilipinas’ peers have been able to recruit players and sustain programs with longer commitments and making assessments over a period of time rather than on a per-game basis. There’s enough time to adjust the PBA schedule for its milestone 50th season and doing so could earn them the favor of a fanbase that has soured on them as of late.  

The honeymoon phase with Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone may be over, but it doesn’t mean the good times are well past us (nor should Chot Reyes be brought back again). The Philippine Men’s National Basketball Team is in a good position to work on the kinks and set themselves up for a good run in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup. 

There could be a time where this window becomes a footnote in Gilas Pilipinas’ journey, but that would depend on how they adapt (or not) to the evolving basketball landscape around them.