Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — If Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin can have it his way, the Philippines will join the wild card Olympic qualifying tournaments in 2016 set a month before the actual games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
And it’s not just because an Olympic berth is at stake.
“Being in 2016 helps you prepare for 2017,” said Baldwin, who steered the national team to a silver medal-finish in the recently-concluded FIBA Asia Championship in China.
Related: Gilas falls prey to China, settles for second place
The American-New Zealander Baldwin was referring to the World Cup pre-qualifying games in 2017, for which the Olympic qualifier will ultimately help the team prepare.
“I don’t think you can ever get enough of really tough competition,” he said upon their arrival in Manila Monday morning (October 5).
“You grow so much through adversity and the Olympic qualifier will bring tremendous adversity. The level of competition will be significantly higher than FIBA Asia.”
Unfortunately, the decision is not his to make.
“That is my hope and prayer. I’m not the final decision maker and we’ll talk about it and come up with the final decision,” he said.
According to reports, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president and Gilas patron Manny V. Pangilinan said the team has no intention to participate in or host a qualifying tournament.
CNN Philippines’ Patricia Ongsiako contributed to this report.
