Dwight shift from wings to backcourt solves Gilas problem
dwight ramos taiwan mustangs

TIM Cone is confident his remaining Gilas Pilipinas guards will be able to step up in the absence of Scottie Thompson at the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia.

Gilas has been left without its starting guard Thompson, whose bulging disc in his back that has bothered him since the PBA Philippine Cup continues to hound him, and, in effect, ruled him out of the OQT.

Cone said he trusts the other guards will fill the void led by Dwight Ramos, who has shifted to the backcourt position.

“We are looking at Dwight to help us out in the backcourt,” said Cone. “He played the wing for us when we had Scottie but we moved him to the backcourt. He gives us great size and he is still capable of scoring from that position.”

Cone said Chris Newsome, recently crowned the Finals MVP after Meralco captured the PBA Philippine Cup, is also capable of being the court general and finds CJ Perez a revelation with the task of bringing the ball down the court.

“So we feel that Dwight is capable. New (Chris Newsome) is obviously very capable and I’m really pleasantly surprised with CJ. CJ is handling and seeing our offense really, really well. I don’t feel we are losing anything.”

Ramos, Newsome, and Perez alternated in the backcourt in Gilas Pilipinas’ 74-64 win over Taiwan Mustangs in a tune-up. Ramos exploded for 19 points, three rebounds, and four steals; Newsome delivering eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals and Perez had three points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal.

dwight ramos taiwan mustangs

Cone also pointed out that regardless of who the court general is, the triangle system that Gilas is running doesn’t necessarily need a pure point guard.

“We don’t play a pure point guard system. If you look at the triangle over the years, we don’t really used pure point guards. Even LA (Tenorio) is not a pure point guard in our system. Johnny (Abarrientos) wasn’t a pure point guard in our system where we run a lot of single-high or dribble-drive. It is different for us.”

tim cone gilas taiwan

But Cone said that doesn’t mean that Gilas doesn’t miss Thompson, who he calls an “infectious player.”

“It’s not that we can’t find a replacement for him. We are just missing him. Anybody we get is not going to replace Scottie. That’s just a fact of life,” said Cone. “But we don’t feel shorthanded. We talked it out with the 11 guys. They are 11 strong and they feel that we are okay.

“People are making a mountain out of a molehill here. It’s not a big of a deal to go 11-strong, at least for me,” said Cone.