Coach Jong Uichico Shares "Different Experience" in Bahrain Bubble

"It is an entirely different experience," That's how Gilas Pilipinas Head Coach Jong Uichico described his experience in the Manama bubble in Bahrain for the second window of the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers. 

Coming off a successful return to national team duty was Coach Jong Uichico who also made his much-awaited return to Bull By the Horn by Benny Benitez on Saturday for the show's 19th episode. Of course, Benitez asked the multi-titled mentor about his experience inside the Manama bubble that was assigned to host the Group A games as the entire world is still battling the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). 

"When you go out of the country, part of the experience aside from playing basketball is learning the culture, learning the customs, eating the food, and seeing the sights. That is a part of your learning process as an international player because you want to appreciate also the sights and the sounds of the country that you're visiting,"  the nine-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) champion mentor explained what went missing in the routines as a member of the national team. He also revealed that the team could only go as far as the lobby of the hotel where they stayed whenever they weren't at the gym for practices. 

Uichico also revealed one Filipino custom that the team didn't get to enjoy as they needed to follow health and safety protocols. "There were Filipinos (in Bahrain) who wished to send food (for the team). We couldn't grant that because bringing in food from outside the hotel is prohibited,"

What made this experience different for Uichico is not having the Filipino fans supporting the team inside the venue. "That's the number one thing that you would miss. The support of the fans and fellow Filipinos even if you're in a different country. If you're in another country, you would feel that you don't have the home crowd but when the Filipinos are there, it feels like you have a home crowd. I miss those because you can feel the support of the Filipinos overseas,"

Despite that, Uichico said, "Of course, safety is the priority so we took the time to bond with the players. We took the time to fast-track our learning process. We accomplished the things that we need to accomplish aside from winning the two games,"

In the second window of the Asia Cup qualifiers, Gilas Pilipinas dominated Thailand in two games in which the Filipinos won by an average of 28 points. That is despite playing in a different situation. 

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