Tim Cone

It was the young bloods who led the way for Gilas Pilipinas sans naturalized Justin Brownlee in an impressive showing to start the first of two tune-up games in New Zealand

Returning Gilas Pilipinas guard Juan Gomez de Liaño looks forward to forming a formidable backcourt partnership with RJ Abarrientos for the coming third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier

The De La Salle University product was just grateful for the call-up to join Gilas for the third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier against New Zealand and Australia next week

Gilas will battle the Tall Blacks in Auckland on 3 July before taking on the Boomerangs in Perth three days after

Regardless of the result of last night’s Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup finals Game 7 against Barangay Ginebra, TNT Tropang 5G guard RR Pogoy will be looking forward to the much-deserved rest

Chris McCullough dropped a career-high 53 points as TNT carved a 98-90 victory over Barangay Ginebra in Game 6 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday

His basket with 1:21 to go gave Ginebra an 89-87 lead, before Roger Pogoy responded with a jumper later to tie the game

The Kings and the Tropang 5G are still slugging it out in Game 3 of their best-of-seven finals series at press time with the winner inching two games away from lifting the all-Filipino trophy

Fortunately for the Gin Kings, RJ Abarrientos was there to keep their poise with his timely long bombs, before Brownlee delivered a dagger that sealed the win

And the Tropang 5G did just that, demolishing the the top seeded NLEX Road Warriors in the quarterfinals followef by the Bolts in the semis

Of course, the Tropang 5G’s journey to the Finals wasn’t easy

The Batang Gin Kings played catch-up for three quarters before erupting for 32 points in the fourth to finish the four-team elimination with a 3-0 mark

Magnolia repulsed a spirited second-half uprising by Meralco en route to a 93-76 victory and secured the fifth seed in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup playoffs on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena

With the Weavers' closing in, 44-48, the Knights bunched eight points, four each by Harold Alarcon and James Kwekuteye, to pad their lead to 12, 56-44, and eventually tally their third win in four starts in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 28-team tournament

NLEX clinched a slot in the quarterfinals after a 95-85 victory over Terrafirma in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium

Magnolia exploited an all-Filipino San Miguel Beer side to get back on the winning track in a 120-101 blowout victory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum

The energetic atmosphere that usually defines its home games was reduced to a deafening silence as Gilas Pilipinas suffered a pair of heartbreaking setbacks in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers last week at the Mall of Asia Arena

Kai Sotto is not yet done dreaming of playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA)

The Philippines closed window 2 of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers with back-to-back defeats to New Zealand and Australia

Despite slipping into a 2-2 win-loss record, the Filipinos are already through to the second round — making the games against the Tall Blacks on 3 July and the Boomers three days later into a battle for the top three seeding in Group A

Australia silenced the home crowd with a 93-66 blowout of Gilas Pilipinas to remain unbeaten in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone has acknowledged issues with execution in its campaign in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers

The multi-talented Converge rookie contributed 10 points, a rebound and two assists in a Gilas uniform as he managed to overcome the jitters of his return to playing for the national team since he last saw action more than three years ago

The Philippines’ resolve will be tested early as it takes on host Australia in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup at the Perth Stadium on Sunday

Depending on how things go with Gilas’ 12-man lineup against New Zealand in the first of the Filipinos’ two homestands at the Mall of Asia Arena as of press time, players cut from the pool will still have a chance to battle the Boomers on Sunday

Rebounding and staying composed are two crucial facets of the game that Gilas Pilipinas must control to better its chances of beating towering teams New Zealand and Australia in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers

Despite missing 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto once again, the addition of young big men Quentin Millora-Brown and Justine Baltazar should give Gilas a decent ceiling against the Tall Blacks when they meet again on Thursday for the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone isn’t worried about the limited training time of his players together for the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers

Kai Sotto will not be around when Gilas Pilipinas competes in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers against New Zealand and Australia at the Mall of Asia Arena next week

He, however, is still not yet ready for national team duties, especially with the possibility of banging bodies with the taller, bulkier and more athletic slotmen from New Zealand and Australia