MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone said the Philippines could not field its best lineup for the Asian Games, a factor he cited after the team failed to reach the quarterfinals of its title defense.
The Philippines ended its campaign Monday with a 105-61 loss to China, a margin that also kept Gilas from advancing from Group C. The team needed to avoid losing by 38 points or more to secure a quarterfinal spot.
“Deeply disappointed we couldn’t get to the quarters,” Cone said. “But it’s a reminder for us that if we don’t or can’t bring our best players to these international events, we won’t excel. We brought some really good players, but we didn’t bring our best players.”
Gilas entered the tournament with an all-PBA lineup after several players from overseas leagues became unavailable. Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, Quentin Millora-Brown, Mike Phillips, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo could not join the team because their clubs did not release them.
Cone also said the team lacked a naturalized player.
Justin Brownlee had a reserved roster spot but became unavailable at the last minute. Bennie Boatwright remained in the process of completing his citizenship requirements, while Jordan Clarkson also was unavailable.
“It would have been nice to have Kai and AJ [Edu] and Q [Quentin Millora-Brown] and Mike Philips and Dwight [Ramos] and KQ [Kevin Quiambao] and Carl [Tamayo] and the like, but they weren’t permitted from their mother teams,” Cone said.
“We would have liked Justin and Bennie (or even Jordan Clarkson), but none were available, and it’s not an easy process to naturalize players like it is in other countries. Even June Mar [Fajardo] would have made an impact,” he added.
The Philippines went 1-2 in Group C. Gilas lost to Bahrain, which had four naturalized players, before earning its only win against Kazakhstan.
The result ended the Philippines’ bid to repeat its Asian Games gold-medal run from three years ago.
