More than just a game: Baldwin hopes youthful Gilas to learn from Belgrade OQT

For coach Tab Baldwin, the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade will be a huge educational process to his Philippines side that were not expected to be there in the first place.

As he was on deck alongside Gilas captain Isaac Go, the American mentor was elated to be in the Serbian capital even though that it was not even part of the plan at all.

“We’re excited to be here. We didn’t really plan this in our schedule,” Baldwin said to open the press conference.

It was noted that the 31st-ranked side saw their Olympic dreams go up in tatters already in 2019, no thanks to its dreadful performance by Yeng Guiao’s troops in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China when Gilas ended up with the wooden spoon among 32 teams after losing all five games. Apart from that, South Korea pipped them to the FIBA rankings to receive the final Asia-Oceania wildcard in the Qualifying tournament.

But that all changed when the pandemic hit, with New Zealand forced to give up its Tokyo quest prompting FIBA to invite the Filipinos in their place which it accepted in February.

And for the fabled mentor that masterminded Ateneo’s three-peat in the UAAP, Baldwin is hoping that their wards are looking forward to be more than just tourists in this Balkan sporting hub, having entered this competition on a high note after qualifying into the FIBA Asia Cup with a group A sweep.

“It’s probably sort of advanced, in terms of where our particular program is at,” Baldwin added, noting that they have done this six-game winning run with mostly college stalwarts that was highlighted by their third window romp in the Pampanga qualifying bubble with Jordan Heading being the lone pro.

“We expect to compete. We expect to take lessons out of this.”

More than just facing grizzled veterans that comprised the squads of Serbia and Dominican Republic, the concurrent Gilas’ program director saw the glaring difference between his current squad to the typical teams which had professional players.

“It’s very different, because you turn everything into a lesson,” he then admitted. “And we have to. Because there’s so much to learn.”

“Everything that we’re doing particularly on the international stage now is not just new for us as a team, but it’s new for all of the players as individuals. So that balancing act of teaching and competing is something that the coaching staff is working on all the time.”

Also, the experience of coaching this current Gilas squad is a joy for Baldwin, who embraced the teaching role more than ever.

“It’s a tremendous pleasure. Because you get great enthusiasm and great attention to everything that they are striving to learn. Because they want to be professionals and earn a living, and this is one step along the way.”

Save for Kai Sotto, Geo Chiu and Carl Tamayo who are already veterans of the Batang Gilas squad that played in both the U17 and U19 Basketball World Cups, the rest of the Gilas Men’s roster are first-timers in top-level FIBA competition, and for captain Go, he echoes Baldwin’s excitement even before they tip off against the hosts on June 30 local time (July 1, Manila time).

“To reiterate coach Tab [Baldwin], a lot of us didn’t expect to be here, a lot of us are actually very excited. Because it’s only really Kai [Sotto] whose had chance to play in the world stage,” he then said.

“And now all of us, playing in the Asian stage and now in the international stage, all of us are really excited to take the floor to play and to take the lessons back. Because this experience is really valuable. And the memories and the bonds that form here is also something that we’ll treasure.”

PHOTOS: FIBA