WHO will step up?
Gilas Pilipinas program director Tab Baldwin is hoping others will rise to the occasion after the national team training pool lost playmaker Matt Nieto (broken hand) and gunner Dave Ildefonso (bone bruise) less than two weeks before they do battle in the third window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
“We lost Matt Nieto to a broken hand, and he’ll be out for most of June and probably for July, but we hope to have him back by the FIBA Asia Cup,” Baldwin said.
“Dave went out with a suspected stress fracture on his foot but, upon getting a second opinion, it turned out to be a deep bone bruise so he’s going to take June to rehab that and we expect him to come back to the pool in July,” he added.
The all-amateur Philippine five is winding up its preparations for the tilt set from June 16 to 20 in a bubble in Clark when the two prized players suffered injuries.
Baldwin said the squad will dearly miss Nieto’s leadership savvy and grit that rubs off on his teammates.
“(Losing Matt) created a great leadership void in the team and it’s very difficult to fill. Matt is not just a vocal leader, he’s not just a tough guy, we really get a lot of our competitiveness as a team from him,” Baldwin said.
“He’s a fierce competitor who hates to lose and that’s contagious in a team environment.
We have other players who are competitive, but they don’t have quite the drive and they don’t have the contagious nature that Matt has.”
The nationals are also set to do battle in the Olympic qualifying tournament from June 29 to July 4 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Baldwin maintained Nieto and Ildefonso are already jiving with their teammates.
“We miss both of them. We miss their talent and experience. We miss the fact that they give us chemistry with all the other players,” he said.
“Fortunately, there aren’t any more injuries. In today’s world, after these guys sat out much of 2020 and didn’t get a lot of basketball, we’re pretty fortunate we didn’t get more injuries. Knock on wood there wouldn’t be any more.”
Gilas will tangle with rival South Korea on June 16 in Clark, a reset of their initial match that was postponed in the second window in Manama last November.
The Filipino cagers will also battle Indonesia on June 19, and Korea anew on June 20.
Gilas needs just a win to gain a slot in the FIBA Asia Cup from Aug. 16 to 28 in Indonesia.
