Gilas shoots for second win versus Thailand

HANGZHOU – Gilas coach Tim Cone and his deputies must have spent hours trying to dissect the Thai team the Filipinos are going to face today in the basketball competitions of the 19th Asian Games here.

Following a one-sided victory over Bahrain last Tuesday, the American mentor said he has yet to find out how the Thais really work inside the court.

It’s been a while since Gilas had faced the Thais in an official game, a chance they never had during the last Cambodia SEA Games where the Filipinos emerged with gold medals in their pockets.

“We saw them in the SEA Games but we were never matched up against them,” said Cone, who guided the Philippine Centennial Team to the bronze in the 1998 Asian Games.

That was the last Asian Games medal for the Philippines in the sport.

However, having watched the Thais in Cambodia, briefly or otherwise, means that Gilas will not go into today’s game set at 11 a.m. blind-folded.

But just to be sure, Cone looked for ways how he could secure a video of Thailand’s game against Jordan last Tuesday. The Thais lost that one, 97-63.

Cone, however, can’t just rely on those numbers.

“We need to break down their game,” he said as Gilas troops to the court hunting for a 2-0 record and just enough momentum heading to their anticipated clash with the Rondae Hollis Jefferson-led Jordanians on Saturday.

The Gilas coaching staff focused mainly on the Thai ace, ex-UCLA Bruin Tyler Lamb, and the rest of the key players.

“We gotta go up the level. I mean, from Bahrain to Thailand to Jordan, and perhaps to the next round, whether it’s Korea or Japan or whoever, and hopefully to the semis, maybe to the finals, we’ve got to continue to lift our game,” said Cone.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, acting as