Gilas Pilipinas—or who’s available, at least—started preparations for Window 2 of the team’s FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. But it would be wise for Tim Cone and company to ramp things up as soon as possible because this window is shaping up to be the toughest for the national squad.
One major reason Window 2 will be a Herculean challenge is the competition Gilas Pilipinas will be facing: the Boomers of Australia and the Tall Blacks of New Zealand. That alone is enough to put this window in a class of its own as Gilas’ most difficult, because both the Tall Blacks and Boomers are among the world’s best—and arguably the region’s two most powerful teams.
Gilas Pilipinas to Miss Key Pieces
Beating Australia and New Zealand would be a tall order as it is, even for a full-strength Gilas Pilipinas. The problem is the national team won’t actually be at full strength for this pair of games. That’s because big men Kai Sotto and Quentin Millora-Brown will both be out of Window 2, with Sotto supposedly begging off to focus on recovering from his torn ACL and QMB reportedly choosing not to join the squad, as confirmed by Cone himself.
That leaves Gilas Pilipinas without two bigs whom Cone could surely use against the taller, more athletic Tall Blacks and Boomers. What’s worse, one of those bigs is the very player Cone has seemingly hinged the team’s chances on in Sotto. Throughout a trying 2025, the PBA’s winningest coach has repeatedly hinted that the Kaiju’s return would help fix many of the ills plaguing Gilas Pilipinas in a largely uneven year marked by disappointing losses. Now, Cone will have to figure out a way to beat New Zealand and Australia without his cornerstone.
Millora-Brown’s absence could be significant as well. Even without Sotto, having QMB could have at least given Cone a decent fallback: a mobile big who can anchor Gilas Pilipinas on defense and be a fulcrum on offense. However, he won’t be around either, leaving the national team with a gaping hole in the middle.
Pressure Mounts
Put simply, the odds now seem stacked against Gilas Pilipinas, as it will very likely field the same squad that New Zealand and Australia handily beat in last August’s FIBA Asia Cup. Exacerbating matters even more is June Mar Fajardo’s fitness, as he had to deal with shoulder and knee problems during the PBA Philippine Cup Finals. Worse still, Cone will have just 10 days, give or take, to work with a full lineup.
Gilas Pilipinas will attempt to do the improbable on February 26 when they meet Australia at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Three days later, on March 1, the team will face New Zealand, also at the same venue.
