Olympic qualifiers: Gilas out to ‘win the whole thing’, says Cone

MANILA, Philippines – With Gilas Pilipinas’ Olympic fate hanging in the balance, head coach Tim Cone said they are not in Riga, Latvia to just be competitive. 

They are there to win the tournament. 

Cone, who will be leading the Philippine delegation in Riga for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, said they are aiming to “win the whole thing.” 

Gilas will face Latvia at 12 a.m. Thursday (Manila time) for a chance to make it to the Olympics — a tournament they haven’t made since 1972. 

“We're not here to win a game. We're here to win a tournament. We're here to win the whole thing,” Cone said in a video uploaded by One Sports Wednesday. 

The PBA’s most titled coach acknowledged that it will be a very steep battle against World No. 6 Latvia.

This is why whatever happens, the Philippines should set their sights on the goal.

“Losing to [Latvia] tomorrow does not knock us out.  But losing — if we allow that first one to affect us in the second one [against Georgia], then we're gonna be knocked out,” he said. 

The hometown squad demolished Georgia, 83-55, on Tuesday (Manila time). 

Also on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the Latvia game, Gilas will battle it out against World No. 23 Georgia. 

Meanwhile, Gilas guard Chris Newsome said the team “has been locked in from the jump.” 

“It's been nice to get the bond with the teammates, and actually get to know each other again. The last time we were together was a few months ago in the Asia Cup (qualifiers). And [that's] nice to have. We have a lot of familiar faces so we can pick up right where we left off,” said Newsome. 

“We have a system in place and now it's just kind of getting, dusting off everything we had, and just coming back to what we do here for Gilas and just really getting to know each other all over again.”