Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) – Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin praised the good start of the young Gilas Pilipinas roster in its 3-0 outing in the last window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
The veteran international coach, however, stressed the team needs to stay grounded and focused on improving their weaknesses on the court.
“This is a great group of guys. We want them to be confident and believe on themselves. We want to temper that this is a long term job and in order to do this job well at the level we hope to get to, we always have to stay focused on improvement,” Baldwin said.
The Gilas Pilipinas team management, led by Baldwin as the men’s team program director, decided to field young players in the last two windows of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers to gain more international exposure in preparation for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Baldwin said the rest of the national team’s coaching staff are carefully looking into each player’s strengths and weaknesses to fit into his coaching system and execute more effective plays.
“I think if you acknowledge the fact that you need to improve, you have to temper your confidence. You can’t be overconfident because there’s so much left to do. We can’t expect to be successful in 2023 if we don’t fix those problems,” he added.
Spitfire guard Dwight Ramos, who led Gilas in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers with averages of 13.8 points, 6.2 boards, and 2.2 assists, underscored the lessons they have learned from Baldwin, as shown in their team chemistry in the three games they played in the Clark bubble.
“We get the confidence from our coaches believing in us. With everybody behind us, we just really feel confident to make any play at the end of the game,” said Ramos, who also plays for Baldwin in the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles.
In their next assignment in the FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia later this month, Baldwin hopes the young Gilas team will put more work in practice and embrace a new type of pressure.
“We play a lot of expectations here in the Philippines from our public, but it’s more out of passion for success. In Serbia, there’s a definitive expectation that they conduct to themselves as the best basketball team in the world. It’s an entirely different type of pressure,” said Baldwin. “I expect it’s going to be great lessons for our players, but I know that our players are going to go there and fight.”
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