A CONFESSED “big man’s coach,” Gilas Pilipinas Tim Cone is over the moon about the full Triple Tower complement he’s finally got at his disposal.
It’s the frontcourt team-up that he’s envisioned from the very start — 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto, 6-foot-10 AJ Edu and 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo (JMF). But major knee injuries left Mr. Cone working with only two of three in all of Gilas’ sorties over the last two years.
Then the stars aligned and all three were healthy and available for the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
“I’ve always favored big teams so I’m a big man’s coach,” he said.
In Mr. Cone’s previous stint at the helm in 1998, he tapped 7-foot-1 EJ Feihl, 6-foot-9 Marlou Aquino and 6-foot-6 Dennis Espino to make up the frontcourt of the squad, then known as the Philippine Centennial Team.
After missing Mr. Edu and then Mr. Sotto one after the other, the Gilas strategist is ready to harness the potential of the duo and Mr. Fajardo, whose average height is at 6-foot-11.
“I love coaching big men so to have Kai and AJ and June Mar a part of this team is really fun for me. And I’m trying to figure out how best to play them. I’d like to play them together more,” he said.
Mr. Cone got his first opportunity in Friday’s duel with Jordan. But the game necessitated a switch to a “smaller and faster” tactic as the Nationals fought back from 18 down to win it in overtime, 82-81.
Messrs. Sotto and Fajardo started the match with Mr. Edu coming off the bench to relieve JMF. Messrs. Edu and Sotto then took turns manning the paint before joining forces in the closeout.
Mr. Sotto finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds and made the game-saving block on Abdullah Olajuwon.
“The thing about Kai, yes, he’s 7-foot-3, but his knowledge of the game, his instincts, is like a point guard really. Because he’s really that smart, that makes him make the people around him better, whether it be through passing or screening or rolling,” Mr. Cone said of Mr. Sotto.
Mr. Edu turned in nine points and 11 rebounds, seven on the offensive end while anchoring Gilas’ defense against Jordan’s pick-and-roll schemes for Jalen Harris and Freddy Ibrahim.
“AJ was phenomenal. AJ, with his defensive versatility, was able to jump out on screens and really kinda stop (Jordan’s) offense in its tracks,” said Mr. Cone of Mr. Edu.
“Without that, we wouldn’t have been able to get back into the game, and that was one of the defensive big adjustments that happened because of what he was doing, and that really changed the tempo of the game.”
Mr. Fajardo, who has expressed his intention to retire from international duties after this window, accounted for two points, a rebound and an assist in his five-minute, 27-second appearance. — Olmin Leyba
Tim Cone gets the Triple Tower complement in fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers
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