GILAS Pilipinas buckled down to work just a day after the PBA Commissioner's Cup finals as it began preparations for its coming campaign in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Coach Tim Cone and the rest of the national team are currently holed out at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna where they set up their four-day training camp that ends on Sunday.
The team will then hold an open workout at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Monday, before flying out of the country the following day for their game against Hong Kong on Feb. 22.
Ten of Gilas' 12-man roster entered training camp on opening day, namely Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Jamie Malonzo, Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, UAAP MVP Kevin Quiambao, and naturalized player Justin Brownlee.
Big man June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez followed suit later on after getting a quick respite following San Miguel's championship quest of the Commissioner's Cup at the expense of Magnolia.
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"We want to stay together. We will battle through all the issues that we have," said Cone in his opening statement before formal training began.
"We hope to reach our potential, and that means we're gonna have failures. Not everything's gonna be smooth. Not everybody's gonna be happy all the time. You hate it when you lose, you hate it when you're missing shots, or you blow your defensive assignment. We're gonna go through it."
Barangay Ginebra players LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Ralph Cu, and Donald Gumaru also joined to help the national team train for its first international tournament for the year following its historic gold medal conquest in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al S. Panlilio was also present to welcome the entire Gilas Pilipinas delegation at the start of training camp.
The Filipinos are in Group B together with New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong.
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They battle Hong Kong this coming Thursday at the Tsuen Wan Sports Centre, then return home to host Chinese Taipei at the Philsports Arena on Feb. 25.(RG)
