By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) program director Tab Baldwin tried to be frank with the situation circulating the Gilas Pilipinas preparations heading into the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers November window.
“We don’t think they’re battle-ready. We even saw that in the NBA with their short preparation time. It took a month or so for players to look really comfortable in terms of chemistry, but even just as basketball players. While we know many of these players, if not all of them, were doing individual workouts, they weren’t running up and down the court, they weren’t competing, and they weren’t getting enough shots up,” said Baldwin.
With a month left after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases approved SBP’s request of conducting their bubble training for FIBA, Baldwin emphasized that the short time left in their practice window is crucial to their preparations.
Also, the lack of experience among the members of the young team SBP formed added to the reason why Baldwin thinks the process got tough with just weeks left before the tournament kickoff.
However, Baldwin and his coaching staff think they will respond to the challenge and guidance is one of the most important keys especially that not a single PBA player is present in the lineup.
“With a younger team, the introduction of elements that we believe exist more in international basketball than what we would see here in the UAAP, NCAA, or even the PBA, we have to introduce some of those concepts, so the scouting is very important,” Baldwin added.
The young and energetic roster that will represent the Philippines will be spearheaded by UP Fighting Maroons superstars’ Juan Gomez De Liaño and Kobe Paras, NCAA MVP Calvin Oftana, and De La Salle’s versatile big man Justine Baltazar.
