MANILA - San Miguel superstar June Mar Fajardo would have made a difference had he been available for the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, coach Tim Cone said.

Fajardo is a mainstay of the Gilas Pilipinas program but could not suit up in the recent FIBA window as the Beermen were competing in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals against the TNT Tropang GIGA.

But had he been available, Fajardo "would have been on that team, hands down," Cone said in an appearance on "Power and Play," Saturday.

"[Fajardo] would have given us a definite post presence that we could have gone to," said Cone of the six-time PBA Most Valuable Player. "Coach Chot [Reyes] talked about him a lot, about what we could have done with him."

The multi-titled coach feels that Fajardo would have certainly made an impact against Lebanon, a game that Gilas lost 85-81 despite 27 points from Filipino-American guard Jordan Clarkson. Lebanon is coming off a runner-up finish in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup and has one of the best guards in the region in Wael Arakji, but Cone believes they have no one who can contain Fajardo inside the paint.

• READ: Can Clarkson-led Gilas dominate basketball in Asia?

"I don't think there was anybody on the Lebanese team that could have handled June Mar down low," the Ginebra coach said.

"Whether June Mar can dominate like against a Serbian team or a US team, that's another question. But at the Asian level, playing against Lebanon? I think he would have dominated there," he asserted.

"It would have been a time where every once in a while, we could have just dumped the ball down to him, spread the floor, let him go to work, and let him find the shooters as he does with San Miguel."

Fajardo undoubtedly still has a place in the national team program, as does Matthew Wright who is the kind of floor-spacer that Gilas Pilipinas needs, according to Cone. Wright also begged off from playing in the fourth window, but has made it clear that he will be available in the future.

• READ: Gilas will have PBA, collegiate players for next FIBA window

"No doubt, I think, adding a shooter or two like Matthew Wright would be ideal, if that's possible," Cone said. "Getting another shooter on the floor would be nice."

Wright and Fajardo are just two of the players that Cone believes can be added to the core of Gilas Pilipinas, whose goal is to keep on developing and gaining chemistry in the months leading up to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

"I think that this is not a revolving door in terms of this team, but it's an evolving door. The team will evolve as it starts to grow," said Cone. "But the bottom line is, there's a core there, that is going to be, I think, unchangeable, and that will allow that core to grow over this next year."

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