"Two-way"
Cohn, who was named Chott Reyes' replacement on Thursday, said it was important for the Philippines to bring in players who could score goals and defend well because they are aiming for a podium finish in the quadrennial game. When he led the Philippine Centennial team to a bronze medal in Bangkok, Thailand in 1998, Kohn, who was also the last coach to lead the Philippines to a medal at the Asian Games, said, "We'll make sure the ball moves. It will be very important to us." Likewise, the American mentor noted that some of Korea's top players will not be around at the start of the Asian Games, which is why he will rely on the remaining pool of talent that the PBA can provide. "You can't win unless you bring in the best players. It's always been my opinion of the national team. We have to make sure that the best players are the best teams," said Conn, the professional league's all-time winning coach with 25 PBA championships. "We will not bring players from Japan and Korea, so we will not bring our best players at the moment, but we will bring the best players possible and try to make them the best team. I think it's important." Dwight Ramos and Kiefer Ravenna, young big men Kai Soto and AJ Edu will not return to the national team after a strong performance at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Ramos topped Gillas Filipinas' local scoring list with 13.8 points, behind naturalized Jordan Clarkson. Ramos, Ravenna, Soto, and Edu are expected to rejoin the Japanese B-League team in the new season. High-altitude guard Lentz Peninsula returns to Korea to join Anyang KGC as he starts defending the Korean Basketball League title. Clarkson, a 6ft 5in NBA star, will also not be available as he will rejoin the Utah Jazz for training camp. Cohn said he was confident that even without the best players in the World Cup, the new Gilas Filipinas team would have a "defensive-oriented" mindset considering they face the region's best players, including China, Japan, South Korea, Jordan and Iran. "And we're going to be very defensive-oriented. I think it will be our advantage in the Asian Games.