Tim Cone seeks more training time with Gilas Pilipinas’ full roster ahead of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup

The Philippine men’s basketball national team left for Jeddah on Wednesday, July 30, for the upcoming 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia from August 5 to 17, featuring the top teams from the region.

Gilas Pilipinas got around three weeks of practice in the Philippines before flying to Jeddah, and head coach Tim Cone emphasized the importance of these training sessions in the build-up to the important tournament. The American tactician did not want to repeat the same mistake they made prior to the final window of the qualifiers in February, which proved disastrous.

Notably, Gilas played several tune-up games in Doha prior to the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, but their lack of training time eventually hurt them, as they suffered defeats to New Zealand and Chinese Taipei.

This time around, Gilas had multiple practice sessions in addition to a tune-up game against the Macau Black Bears at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Monday, July 28.

“AJ Edu was awesome against the Macau Black Bears, and that was just from having him for two weeks. I think in the last trip we took, we only had him for two days. Then we arrived in Doha and played games, went to Taiwan, had one practice session, and then to New Zealand with one more practice. So in effect, we only had four practice sessions during that whole trip,” Cone told the media.

ROAD TO GLORY BEGINS NOW 🇵🇭

With roles set and chemistry intact, Gilas Pilipinas Men have finalized their 12-man roster for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.#GilasPilipinas #FIBAAsiaCup2025 pic.twitter.com/EJH0speVf6

— One Sports (@OneSportsPHL) July 31, 2025

However, despite the opportunity for extended training, Cone was without several key players, including June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, and Calvin Oftana, who were busy playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Finals.

Gilas have one more tune-up game against Jordan on Saturday, August 2, before their Asia Cup campaign starts, but for Cone, he wants to spend the remaining time in focused training.

“In a way, I’m happy because we were able to get a couple of weeks. But we wanted a complete team, so that made it difficult. Still, we had a good core. Justin Brownlee, AJ Edu—it was really important for AJ to be here. So getting the practice time was crucial. But like I said, I’d like more practice time with June Mar and company,” he added.

Gilas Pilipinas have been drawn into Group D of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup alongside Iraq, New Zealand, and Chinese Taipei. They will open their campaign against Chinese Taipei on August 6, followed by a clash against New Zealand on August 7, with their final group game scheduled for August 9 against Iraq.

Each team will play the others in a single round-robin, with the top team earning a direct quarterfinal berth. The second and third-ranked teams will compete in a crossover playoff. The quarterfinals, semifinals, third-place match, and final will follow a single-game knockout format.

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