Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone praised his players after a hard-fought 93-89 comeback victory over the New Zealand Tall Blacks in the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday night, November 21, 2024. The win ended an eight-year, four-game losing streak to New Zealand and preserved Gilas’ spotless 3-0 record across two qualifying windows.
Cone acknowledged New Zealand’s toughness in the post-game press conference, which was live-streamed via the FIBA Media YouTube channel.
Cone, in a post-game press conference live-streamed via the Fiba Media YouTube channel, acknowledged New Zealand’s toughness and physicality throughout the game. “They are good, really good. They are very physical and I think that was the number one thing we had to battle through,” he said, commending June Mar Fajardo and Kai Sotto’s defensive presence and Justin Brownlee’s offensive contributions.
“They rotated two almost three guys on them and just banged them all game long. So to overcome that and find a way to win was really special – especially because of our home court, our home crowd, and the people watching. I had so much good luck today. I can’t tell you how many good luck I had before the game and throughout the day. There was a lot of attention on the game and our guys were pressured to win, they found a way, and I’m proud of them,” Cone said.
