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If Gilas Pilipinas decides to recalibrate after losses to New Zealand and Australia, maybe these shooters can help in the next FIBA window and beyond.
Shortly after Gilas Pilipinas absorbed a 93-66 beating at the hands of Australia’s Boomers, head coach Tim Cone was asked about his team’s shooting woes. Gilas shot a combined 17-of-68 from 3-point distance in the second window of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers first round, and naturally people wanted to know what he would do about it.
“Well, you know, we got shooters,” he said during the post-game press conference. “I think everybody complains about our team. We don’t have shooters. We got Dwight (Ramos). We got Juan (Gomez de Liaño). We got Justin (Brownlee). We got KQ (Kevin Quiambao). You know, we got guys who can light it, and Calvin (Oftana). You know, we have the shooters on the team.”
For Cone, this issue wasn’t lack of shooting but lack of quality shots.
“It’s just that we’re not generating the shots that we want to generate. It’s not about, you know, it’s not about the shots going in or out. It’s about getting the quality of shots. And that’s what I said when I talked about we have to kind of look at what we’re doing, maybe simplify a little bit more so that we can get a little bit more open looks. But I don’t think there’s a problem with our shooting. We just haven’t shot the ball that well.”
Tim Cone, as always, has a good point. But just in case Gilas does go shopping around for an additional knockdown shooter or two, here are five possible candidates.
Mason Amos
Remember him? From 2023 to 2025 Amos was one of the youngest members of the Gilas pool, his calling card being a tall player who could drop shots from outside and spread the floor, which is a plus in international competition. He’s also shown willingness to let it fly whenever he so much as gets a glimpse of the rim.
Amos was left out of Cone’s pool last year and hasn’t been recalled since, but maybe it’s time for him to make his way back for the third window in July. He already knows the system, and he’s added more experience to his game after a title run with DLSU in UAAP Season 88.
Robert Bolick
Bolick is coming off a solid stint at the Bangkok Southeast Asian Games, where he led Gilas to the gold medal. But he hasn’t played in an official FIBA tournament in three years even after a solid 2019 FIBA World Cup performance that had many believing he would be a national team mainstay for the foreseeable future.
Bolick has shown a level of fearlessness and competitiveness not seen in many players, plus he’s not afraid to take a big shot when needed. He also has a fine shooting touch: this PBA season he’s missed just one free throw in 32 attempts while hitting a decent 32 percent on 3s.
Javi Gomez de Liaño
Perhaps the best pure shooter in this list, Javi GDL is a great catch-and-shoot artist who at 6’5” has the height to shoot over other international guards. He moves well without the ball and has a quick release, both valuable assets in international play.
Gomez de Liaño has minimal FIBA experience (just three games in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers), but he did play 35 games in the Japan B.League where he shot 36 percent from long distance. He has also shown in the PBA that he can get buckets, as evidenced by his 16.2 points per game for the Terrafirma Dyip in the 2023-24 season.
Jordan Heading
Heading may be on short side (around six feet), but he’s steeped in international experience and can get his shot off when called upon. More importantly, he has repeatedly said he’s just a phone call away from joining this current Gilas pool.
Heading has played in Taiwan, Japan and Australia, so he knows the international game. In the PBA playing for TNT, he’s shown maturity and confidence as a playmaker. It’s also worth noting that in the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, he shot 72.7 percent (8-of-11 shooting) from beyond the arc against Serbia and Dominican Republic.
Ray Parks
Ah, Ray-Ray. Arguably the most athletically gifted guard the Philippines has produced this century, Parks showed he’s still willing to answer the call of the national team when he asked permission from his Japanese club to join the SEA Games selection last December.
Parks hasn’t played for Gilas in a FIBA-sanctioned tournament since 2023, and during this time he’s been a mainstay in Japan where he’s been playing heavy minutes for his clubs while shooting a decent clip from outside. There’s not much need to make a case for him as anyone who’s followed the local basketball scene knows he can stroke it from the outside on a set shot as well as get his shot off in traffic. What’s more, at 6’5” and blessed with athleticism, he’s a nightmare matchup for most Asian guards.
Banner images by Kieran Punay/KLIQ, Inc.