Gilas Pilipinas must shore up its defense to keep its FIBA Asia Cup 2025 campaign alive after back-to-back losses to Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.
Coach Tim Cone pointed to defensive lapses as the main culprit, noting the team allowed too many layups and open looks from three-point range.
“In my mind, we gave up too many layups… Chinese Taipei shot well from the three, New Zealand shot 50 percent. That’s something we gotta try to solve in our next game,” Cone said in a press conference after their 94-86 loss to the Tall Blacks. Gilas also fell 95-87 to Chinese Taipei.
Cone stressed the need to better identify and close out on shooters like New Zealand’s Jordan Ngatai, who was left open multiple times in the first half.
“To me it’s just mental adjustments… something we need to talk about, work on, and figure out,” he said.
Gilas needs a win over Iraq to boost its quarterfinal hopes.
The post Cone urges defensive fixes as Gilas fights to stay alive in Asia Cup first appeared on Fastbreak.
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