TRUST the process.
That’s what Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin is trying to preach to his wards as they train their sights on the FIBA World Cup the country is co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia in 2023.
“These players are young and that means they’re developing. We don’t know exactly how much development there will be between now and, say, the first quarter of 2023,” Baldwin said on Radyo5 92.3 News FM’s Power and Play program hosted by former PBA commissioner Noli Eala.
“We have players involved right now that may not look like a featured player or a guy that helps us that much, but a year down the track, a year-and-a-half down the track we may see an entirely different play. That’s the whole purpose of having the program,” he added.
The American-New Zealander tactician of reigning three-time UAAP champion Ateneo maintained time toughing up together would do wonders for the nationals.
“Their time together is critical and anybody that thinks we can just bring star players in at the last minute and expect that to be an addition to the team, they’re wrong cause it will be a subtraction for the team,” Baldwin said.
“I don’t care how good those players are. They may be a star for the team, but they won’t actually help the team perform better as a team.”
An 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 Cup that was rescheduled next year.
Gilas also saw action in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgrade, Serbia last month but lost both of their matches to world-ranked foes Serbia and Dominican Republic and failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games, however.
