Cone 'surprised' as Gilas Pilipinas moves on to FIBA OQT semis: 'First time I felt good about losing'

Gilas Pilipinas' travel plans will have to change as the national team advanced to the semifinals of the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia.

The Philippines fell to Georgia, 96-94, but the narrow loss was enough for the country to moved a step closer to a ticket to the Paris Olympics.

For head coach Tim Cone, it was a good thing of sorts.

"We had our tickets to leave tomorrow, we already had our tickets to go, we already had our tickets out. I guess we have to move them back a little bit. That's how surprised we are here and talking to you," Cone said at the post-game conference.

"Like we've been saying, it's the first time I felt good about losing."

Cone also praised his wards for the resiliency they showed despite staring at a 20-point deficit early in the game.

"I just really want to compliment our guys because they were down 20, it could have been easy panic time and they worked their way back into the game." Cone said.

"We were down 20 at various points in the game, One little streak here, we could have gone down 30 and then we're going home and using our tickets tomorrow, but they really showed their resilience."

The loss put Gilas at the second spot of Group A of the Riga tournament behind Latvia at the end of the group stage. The Philippines will now await the results of the game between Brazil and Cameroon to determine its semis opponent.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News