Zone defense ni Cone nagbunga ng maganda

MANILA, Philippines — Malaking adjustment ang ginawa ni Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone upang hindi matambakan ang kaniyang tropa sa laban nito kontra Georgia sa FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament sa Riga, Latvia.

Kailangan ng Georgia na maipanalo ang laro ng may lamang na 19 puntos o higit pa laban sa Gilas Pilipinas upang makapasok sa semis.

Nakakuha ng 20 puntos na bentahe ang Georgia sa first half at ito ang naging hudyat ni Cone upang baguhin ang kaniyang game plan.

Sumugal ito nang magpalit ito ng estratehiya gamit ang zone defense na hindi nito ginagawa.

“(I told them) let’s go to zone. That was the key move. I’m not really a zone guy but they were just eating us up individually. We had to go to zone and it worked,” ani Cone.

Hindi agad nakapag-adjust ang Georgia sa naging taktika ng Gials Pilipinas dahilan upang hindi na ito makaarangkada at maisakatuparan ang plano nito.

“They (Georgia) struggled with it a little bit and we got some confidence and we just go with it the rest of the way. That’s rare for me but in this kind of situation you need to do what you got to do,” ani Cone.

Sa katunayan ay nakahanda na ang plane ticket ng Gilas Pilipinas para bumalik ng Pilipinas kung natalo.

“We already had our tickets to leave tomorrow, we’ve bought the tickets. I guess we have to move them back a little bit. That’s how surprised we are,” ani Cone.