Returning as Asiad king or winding down as bridesmaid?

HANGZHOU – Filipinos had waited so long for a moment like this.

Yes, it’s been 61 years, almost a lifetime, since the country of over a hundred million people, that treats basketball as religion, had won the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Asian Games.

Tonight, at the massive Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, the Philippine basketball team known as Gilas will go for all the marbles against a Jordanian team that’s hungry as well.

The game is set at 8 p.m.

If the Filipinos succeed, they will become Asian Games champions once more, so long after a team bannered by the late Caloy Loyzaga, once Asia’s greatest basketball player, won the gold in Jakarta.

That was the last of four straight championships in the Asian Games for the Filipino dribblers. It’s been a downward trend since, the last three medals coming in 1986 (bronze), 1990 (silver) and 1998 (bronze).

“That was a long time ago,” said Cone, who was barely five years old then, a young boy in Oregon. He first came to the Philippines when he was nine, joining his parents as they moved in. His father worked for a logging company in Baler, Quezon.

Along the way, from 1962 until today, came countless heartaches.

Now, the gold medal is within reach, and the Filipinos can’t let this one slip away because nobody knows for sure when the next opportunity would come – and that’s a big IF.

Jordan, led by NBA veteran and former PBA Best Import awardee Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, has never won the Asian Games crown but has finished fourth a handful times, including in 1986 when they lost to the Philippines in the battle for the bronze.

Cone was asked if he had any message to RHJ, who is being adored and described in this Games as a left-handed Kobe Bryant.

“No,” said Cone. “Let sleeping dogs lie. We don’t want to fire him up.”

The Jordanians, who beat the Filipinos in the groups stage and have remained unbeaten in five games here, could use that as a rallying point.

Gilas advanced to the final against Jordan last Wednesday following a “miraculous” 77-76 victory over host and defending champion China, and before a stunned audience of about 18,000.

The Filipinos pulled it off after trailing by six points in the final 90 seconds. It was a type of a comeback that comes once in a blue moon. Yet, the team that almost didn’t have enough eligible players for this Games did it behind Justin Brownlee’s magnificent hands.

After the final buzzer, Gilas players and coaches celebrated on the court like the gold had been won. They formed a tight circle, and jumped up and down. The Chinese, on the other hand, were in disbelief, hands on top of their heads.

Their biggest supporter, 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, a retired NBA superstar, wore a blank face.

“I am just in total shock, standing in front of all these people and you talking about a win. I’m just in total, total shock,” said Cone as he emerged from the packed press conference room of the massive venue that looked more like an airport terminal from the inside.

“This doesn’t happen. This only happens in the movies. This doesn’t happen in real life. To beat the host team is unforgettable. People will remember this forever,” said Cone, his tears ready to fall.

The celebration stretched all the way inside the dugout and into the wee hours for non-team members.

But Cone was quick to remind everybody, from the players to his assistants and team management, of the last battle here in Hangzhou, the rich and bright capital city of Zhejiang province.

“We got another game,” said Cone, the same mentor who guided the Philippine Centennial Team to the bronze in 1998.

The goal, he said, is to win it all.

“Our goal is to win the gold and we said that from the beginning. I’m not sure we believe we’d get here, but we did say that from the beginning,” said Cone.

The loss to Jordan created a lot of complications for Gilas, which needed to play, and win, three games in three days. But they managed, beating Qatar, then Iran and then China.

Even then, Cone and his think-tank, which includes PBA superstar LA Tenorio, had looked forward to a rematch with the Jordanians. And now, it’s in front of them.

“We also kept saying we want to get back and play Jordan, so we’re back to play them. Now we’ll see what we can do,” said Cone, the coach with the most titles in the PBA with 25.

But there’s one thing missing in his trophy cabinet at home.

It’s the gold in the Asian Games.