At first glance, Gilas Pilipinas appeared to have landed a favorable draw in 5×5 basketball at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. Yes, the Philippines is on an early collision course with perennial powerhouse China in Group C, but Bahrain and Kazakhstan—the two other teams in the group—seem like winnable matchups.
Don’t tell that to national team coach Tim Cone, though. The PBA’s winningest tactician and current Gilas Pilipinas coach isn’t leaving anything to chance and is, in fact, wary of Kazakhstan.
“I haven’t heard which team [is tough], but if it’s Kazakhstan, we played them in the past and they are tough and we know they are a big team,” Cone said of the Kazakhs, who aren’t traditionally known as a powerhouse in Asia but consistently field tall, solid squads that compete hard.
Kazakhstan Has Beaten Gilas Pilipinas
Cone’s concern is well-founded. Kazakhstan has proven competitive and has beaten Gilas Pilipinas before—in the fifth window of the 2018 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, when the Kazakhs stunned the Philippines, 92-88, at home.
It was also against Kazakhstan—and in the Asian Games no less—when the infamous own-goal fiasco occurred. In the quarterfinals, the Philippines needed to beat Kazakhstan by at least 11 points to advance to the semis due to the quotient system. Gilas blew a 14-point lead down the stretch and was headed to a two-point victory, 67-65. Hoping to force overtime and possibly earn a nine-point win in extra time, the nationals instructed Marcus Douthit to score on Kazakhstan’s own goal to tie the game at 67. The stunt was disallowed, and Gilas was eliminated.
Put simply, Kazakhstan has already shown it can be a tough out, and Cone’s concern is certainly justified. Now, it will be up to him to navigate what could turn out to be a treacherous path in defending the Asian Games gold.
