Cone sumugal laban sa Georgia

MANILA, Philippines — Malaking sugal ang ginawa ni Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone para masawata ang Georgia sa plano nito sa FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament na ginaganap sa Riga, Latvia.

Bago magsimula ang laro ay nasa isip na ng Georgia ang pangangailangan na matambakan ang Gilas Pilipinas ng 19 puntos o higit pa para 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 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,” wika ni Cone.

Hindi agad nakapag-adjust ang Georgia sa naging taktika ng Gials Pilipinas.

“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.