JOINING the PBA’s 46th season as a guest team remains a possibility for Gilas Pilipinas, according to coach Tab Baldwin.
“As far as the PBA, I think it’s just an ongoing conversation,” Baldwin said on Radyo5 92.3 News FM’s Power and Play program hosted by former PBA Commissioner NoliEala.
“I don’t think the particulars around that discussion have changed,” he said.
The nationals’ stint in the pro league hinges largely on whether the country returns to some sort of normalcy.
The PBA Philippine Cup was halted temporarily last Aug. 4 due to the threat of the more contagious COVID-19 Delta variant and is set to resume in Pampanga by the last week of this month.
“We would certainly love the involvement of players that we would like to have in our environment, but it came with the conditions of a significant amount of training time,” Baldwin said.
“I guess in the crazy world that we live in, that may become possible because of COVID situations going even into 2022 or it may not. So, we can’t really project at this point.”
Having more time to toughen up does not also hurt, Baldwin said.
“More time to prepare for us is not a bad thing,” he said.“We need practice, but we need games as well and we need to keep these players motivated.”
The all-amateur Philippine five completed an emphatic 3-0 sweep in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and 6-0 record overall to gain a slot in the Asia
