Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — On Saturday (June 27), Gilas Pilipinas were drawn in a relatively light group in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China.
But despite being bunched in Group B with Palestine, Kuwait, and East Asian champion (Hong Kong or Mongolia), new Gilas coach Tab Baldwin said they wouldn’t treat their opponents with kid gloves.
“It is what it is. We have no control of the draw anyway. We just have to go there and try to win a gold medal,” said Baldwin, who is leading the national team that wound up second behind Iran in the 2013 edition of the competition.
Baldwin added there is no pressure to duplicate the team’s previous feat. In fact, their goal is to surpass it.
It’s gold or nothing.
“The target is always to win the gold,” said the American coach, who is very familiar with the brand of basketball in Asia having coached Jordan and Lebanon in the previous FIBA competitions. “I don’t approach it like you’re going to lose.”
Baldwin said he has already named the 26 players he wishes to be part of his pool and submitted the list already to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Of course, he is not making the names public because he has to do rounds with the team owners first, but said for sure there will be familiar faces in the fold.
The competition will unfurl in September.
