Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Though the Philippines fell to China in the finals of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, the 2016 Olympic dream isn’t dead yet.
With its second place finish in the biennial meet, the Philippines still has a shot at making it to the Olympics via the wild card qualifying tournaments that would take place a month before the the actual event in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Up for grabs are three spots for the prestigious basketball meet, which will be decided by three qualifying jousts. The winner of each of the tournaments will earn the right to fight for the Olympic gold.
The teams eligible for the qualifying tournaments are France, Serbia, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Angola, Tunisia, Senegal, Philippines, Iran, Japan, New Zealand, and three to be determined host nations.
The main question asked in basketball circles today though is whether or not the national team should even attempt to qualify for the Olympics via the wild card tournaments.
But former national team coach and current Barangay Ginebra San Miguel mentor Tim Cone believes that it would be a fun experience for the Philippines to go through.
“I always think you should, they’re fun,” said Cone. “From a coaching standpoint, for a player’s standpoint they’re really fun to join.”
The newly-instated Ginebra coach though acknowledges that there are some things that need to be addressed.
“There are a lot of issues and they need to be settled before we decide to do that.,” he said. “But if we could get them settled, then for certain we should go out and do that.”
Related: What’s next for Gilas? Baldwin hopes team will join Olympic qualifying tournament
The multi-titled coach also said that the chance to play at such a high level and qualify for one of the most prestigious international tournaments in the world is something that may not come as often as some would like.
“You think they’re going to come around, you win a championship then you go, ‘oh there are going to be many in the future,’ you find out they’re not,” said Cone.
“The same thing is for the national team, this is a big, huge opportunity and you don’t to let these things go by.”
Gilas hotshot Dondon Hontiveros echoed the sentiments of Cone, saying that the experience the team will gain will be invaluable for future tournaments, especially for the younger players.
“Yung experience nila to play world class teams,” said Hontiveros. “When they go back to FIBA Asia, mas more experienced sila, mas mature sila.”
“They’ll be ready come FIBA Asia 2019 or 2017 FIBA Qualifying.”
Should the Filipinos decide to join the qualification tournaments, they will resume their quest to get back in the Olympics for the first time since 1972 on July 2016.
Related: Gilas falls prey to China, settles for second place
