More than its topnotch basketball skills, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone wants his Southeast Asian Games crew admired and remembered for the way it shows respect to the game and class against its opponents.
"It's a real honor and pleasure to coach such a high-powered team but we wanna make sure we're coming out and respecting the game, we're playing the game the right way, we're respecting our opponents," Cone said after Gilas' 110-58 rout of Singapore on opening night.
That means as they overwhelm their opponents with their boundless firepower, Cone's charges aren't bullying their preys with their attitude and talking thrash.
"You don't see a lot of fooling around. We don't want our guys fooling around. We talked about that; we're not gonna thrash talk our opponents, we're gonna try to play the game the right way.
"And what's important for us is to represent the country (well). We want people going back to their respective homes and saying 'wow, that team played with a lot of class' and that's really up in our minds," he said.
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But Gilas would be a monster on the court, shackling the main offensive threats on the other side.
"I love the way we started the game (against Singapore) when Chris Ross came out and blocked their star player Wong in their first possession. That kinda sent a message that we're gonna play defense against them," said Cone.
"We want these guys to dig in. We know they're gonna be great offensively, we know they're gonna be able to score, shoots threes, run the floor. But the thing we're trying to demand from them is to play defense and I thought it's a good game tonight. But I think they could still get better, they gotta get better against a team like Vietnam which we have coming up (on Friday night)," he said.
On a personal note, the Singapore game was Cone's first at the biennial SEA Games and the admitted there was a nervous energy all around.
"It's a different kind of feeling because you know you have a strong team but you can't get over the anxiety," he said.
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"And (former Gilas) Coach Chot Reyes told me you'll be up by 15, 20 points and you'll still be nervous. That's so true. I was a bundle of nerves coming to the game, all day long and even at halftime, we're up by 20 I was a bundle of nerves. So it's really a different feeling being here at this stage.
"And the players also, I can tell. They know they're good but they're still on the edge and that's healthy for all of us," he said.
Not healthy for Gilas' rivals, though. (OL)
