Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The search for the next Gilas players begins on August 1, when new Gilas coach Tab Baldwin starts holding a six-day tryout for 26 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) stars.
By the end of that stretch, Baldwin will trim the national pool to 16 before flying to possibly Turkey and Lithuania for a three-week training camp that includes tune up matches.
The 57-year-old Baldwin already submitted the names of the 26-man pool to the PBA, and the list is expected to come out after the ongoing season.
Naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche is also expected to arrive by August 1 or earlier, according to a report by Philstar.com.
Blatche, who helped the Philippine team go home with a historic win against Senegal in the FIBA World Cup, is fresh from a stellar showing in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He normed 31.1 points, 14.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 2.8 steals for the Xinjian Flying Tigers.
Baldwin said the team’s goal right now is to win the 2015 FIBA Asia championship crown to book a slot in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Read: Gilas coach Baldwin says goal is to win gold in 2015 FIBA Asia championship
