Gilas not taking HK lightly

MANILA, Philippines — Every step in this long journey is important for Gilas Pilipinas.

So even if the next one involves a winless opponent lacking the quality and firepower of the last, expect the forward-thinking Nationals to take the same all-business approach.

Three days after their 93-89 upset of world No. 22 and long-time tormentor New Zealand, coach Tim Cone’s rampaging troops (3-0) train their guns at lowly Hong Kong (0-3) tonight with a follow-up W lifting them straight to the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.

“We don’t have a chance to get together very often so every window and game is a chance for us to keep growing and developing. So our approach won’t change whether playing a team ranked above us or below us,” Cone, who’s leading a four-year program aimed at making the 2028 LA Olympics, told The STAR.

“We want to keep working on our chemistry, execution and discipline as we journey our way through the next three years,” he added.

From being underdogs against the Tall Blacks, a powerhouse who ran roughshod over Philippine teams in four previous face offs since 2016, the 34th-ranked Pinoy dribblers now assume the favorite tag against the No. 117 HK in their 7:30 p.m. matchup at the MOA Arena.

The Justin Brownlee-led Nationals overpowered Hong Kong in Tsuen Wan last February, 94-64, when they first met at the start of the Qualifiers. Hong Kong reports for this return game on the heels of a deflating 55-85 blowout loss to Chinese Taipei in Taipei last Thursday.

“We won’t take anything for granted when we play Hong Kong,” assured Cone, who may get to rotate his 12-man crew more versus their lightweight foes and deploy youngsters Kevin Quiambao and Mason Amos after riding the bench the whole match against NZ.

A sweep of the two-game home gig will enable the Nationals to secure their place early in the Continental hoopfest to be held in Jeddah, with still one window to play in the Qualifiers.

The Philippines is slated to wrap up its ACQ campaign in February in road outings against the Taiwanese (Feb. 20) and the revenge-seeking Tall Blacks (Feb. 23).