Tight sked for Gilas

February 27, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — It’ll be another tight squeeze for Gilas in preparing for the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah on Aug. 5-17 with the PBA season’s final conference, the Philippine Cup, slated to end July 27 if the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals go the distance. Assuming the conference closes July 27, Gilas will be left with only nine days, including travel time, before the start of the Saudi Arabia competition.

The brief window is why coach Tim Cone prefers a compact pool with minimal changes for familiarity, continuity and chemistry. There are nine PBA and six foreign-based players plus collegian Mason Amos in the pool of 16. Working around the players’ calendar is a challenge.

The Philippine Cup will open April 4 with a 66-game elimination schedule. Four provincial games are in the bill. The first to eighth place teams advance to the quarterfinals where No. 1 will face No. 8, No. 2 will meet No. 7, No. 3 will battle No. 6 and No. 4 will engage No. 5 with the higher seeds enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage. The ninth to 12th place teams will be eliminated. A playoff will be set only to break a tie for No. 8. The semifinals and finals will be best-of-seven affairs.

The third conference will take a break for the All-Star Weekend at the University of Southeastern Philippines gym in Davao City on Friday, May 2 and the Panabo gym in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, on May 4. The Friday game will feature a Mindanao selection while the Sunday contest will bring back the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors against the Veterans with online/venue voting for the All-Stars. It will be offseason for the PBA in August and September to give way to the FIBA Asia Cup and the FIVB men’s volleyball World Cup in Pasay and Quezon City on Sept. 12-28. Before the World Cup begins, the PBA will hold its annual draft on Sept. 7. The next season will start on Oct. 5, kicking off the Golden Anniversary celebration.