GILAS Pilipinas squares off with rival South Korea today as the third window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers gets going in a bubble at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
The match, initially slated last November in the second window in Manama but was postponed due to the pandemic, is set at 6 o’clock. Japan battles China in the curtain-raiser at 4:30 p.m.
Returning Gilas coach Tab Baldwin yesterday named his final 12-man line-up, with 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto and naturalized player Ange Kouame leading the charge.
Also named to the team were newly-appointed skipper Isaac Go, Dwight Ramos, Javi Gomez de Liaño, Justine Baltazar, Mike Nieto, William Navarro, and Jaydee Tungcab.
Completing the squad were Carl Tamayo, SJ Belangel, and RJ Abarrientos.
Relegated to the sidelines were Geo Chiu, Jordan Heading, and Lebron Lopez.
South Korea will be bannered by naturalized player Ra Gun A or Ricardo Ratliffe, a former PBA import.
Baldwin is convinced his charges, despite being young, are no pushovers.
“It takes time to evolve this, but the one advantage that I have is young players are much easier to coach in terms of aggression and effort and energy. So, from that standpoint, it’s a good match,” Baldwin said in the online show The Game.
“If we can build that culture to play that way, then that’s the age that would be normal for them,” he added.
The Filipino dribblers are set to collide with Indonesia on Friday, and Korea anew on Sunday.
With a 3-0 record in Group A, Gilas needs just a win to clinch a berth in the Asia Cup in August in Indonesia.
While winning at home soil will be fitting, Baldwin stressed the long-term goals of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
“We always have to be guarded by the results on the scoreboard. But we have to understand that we are in a program, and we are in a progression moving towards 2023 and beyond in fact. And so, we are looking for all kinds of results; we are looking for the development of players; we are looking for a culture to be developed. Some of these things you can’t quantify; some of these things, you have to trust the powers-that-be, and that would be our coaching staff and our program directors. Not just me, but you know, also people like coach Ryan Gregorio and boss Al Panlilio. We’re all invested in all kinds of results, and we do understand that the fans want to enjoy winning on the court. We absolutely understand that. We do, too, and there’s nothing better than a victorious locker room,” he said.
“But it doesn’t always come and for this program, in particular, we are not putting all our emphasis on that at this point. But certainly by 2023, we want to see a team and field a team in the World Cup in the Philippines that is capable of winning games; capable of getting out of the first round; and is capable of walking out the court with the major powers like Serbia or like the United States and our players feeling like they belong there.
They really feel like they’re competitive as a team. That is an important result.”
