Nationals determined to upset Kiwis, Aussies

MANILA, Philippines — With a “Game 7” mentality and an ample buildup, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone is upbeat about the Nationals’ capability to spring a surprise in Oceania – even without towering Kai Sotto.

Cone and his gritty dozen left yesterday for Australia to prepare in earnest for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers’ first-round, third-window away gigs against New Zealand on July 3 in Auckland and the Boomers three nights later in Perth.

The training camp brings them first to Brisbane for sessions at the Brisbane Bullets’ facilities before heading to New Zealand for the preparations’ windup that includes tuneups against the Manawatu Jets in Wellington and the Franklin Bulls in Auckland.

“We know it’s going to be tough. But we’ve been a team that pulled surprises before and I’m not going to be surprised if we pull a surprise,” Cone said during Gilas’ send-off activity with fans at the Filoil Center Monday night.

“I like the way the SBP set it up for us in terms of going to Brisbane and acclimatizing, getting a camp and playing a couple of friendlies against pro New Zealand teams. It's really good preparation for us.”

And as Cone loves to say, a "prepared team is a confident team."

“Every game for Gilas is a Game 7 and we just have to be prepared the best way we can. If we feel like we’re prepared and ready to go, we’ll be confident and that will show in our game. And I think this is really one of our best chances to do that with the preparation," he said.

Cone’s original core — Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos, June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, AJ Edu, Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo – leads the crew shooting for a revenge in Oceania after seeing their 2-0 start in the WCQ stopped by the two Oceania powerhouses in Window 2.

Juan Gomez de Liano, who played in the previous window, is reactivated in place of injured Scottie Thompson and forms an exciting backcourt tandem with RJ Abarrientos.

Troy Rosario, Justine Baltazar and Mike Phillips get their first duties, hoping to help Edu and Co. in the paint in the absence of Sotto, who is reviving his NBA dream and Quentin Millora-Brown, who is out with a back injury.

“Q (Brown) has had back surgery in Japan so he's not available. And Kai is working on his plan to go to the NBA so we're not going to interfere with that as well,” said Cone.

“If he could be here I think he'd be here but he's got other plans trying to go to another path along the NBA. It's too bad because Kai would make an incredible difference and really, really give us a chance. We've just got to go with the people we have and we expect to put up a good fight with who we have.”

While QMB may be back come the second round of the WCQ in August, Sotto’s availability is still a question mark.

“It depends on what path Kai takes. There's some talk that he might go to the NCAA in the States. If he does that, then he's going to be out for the year because the NCAA doesn't break for FIBA (competitions)," said Cone.