Gilas Men get serious right on 1st SEAG practice as training held behind closed doors

Ivan Saldajeno
By Ivan Saldajeno

PASIG—With only limited time to practice, Coach Tim Cone made sure that Gilas Pilipinas Men's training sessions will be at an optimal early on.

That is why he ordered the very first practice of Gilas Men for the Southeast Asian Games to be held behind closed doors on Monday night at the Meralco Gym.

"We realized we have a short number of practices, so we want to be very concise. That's why we're being strict on how we handle the practices and who's around because we have such a short window," Cone explained the decision to the reporters present at the venue after they were allowed to enter at the conclusion of practice.

With the PBA Governors' Cup still ongoing, only five weeks were allotted for Gilas Men practice on a twice-per-week setup until early November, when the conference's elimination round reaches its crucial stages.

"We finished Practice 1. Now, in our minds, we only have nine practices left," Cone further said, although he added that he may request for a few more practice sessions.

However, Cone lauded the 14 players present in practice for quickly picking up the drills he set during practice.

"We showed them an offense today, and it was like easy peasy for them to figure it out. I was like, 'Jeez!' I was shocked," he further said.

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