The last time Gilas Pilipinas and Chinese Taipei faced was back in the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship when the Filipinos lost despite holding a commanding lead. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Games Sunday
(Xinchuang Gymnasium)
1 p.m. – Spartak Primorye vs South Korea
3 p.m. – Iran vs Chinese Taipei-B
5 p.m. – Japan vs USA Select-Overtake
7 p.m. – Gilas Pilipinas vs Chinese Taipei-A
TAIPEI – Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin said that history will only matter to him if it will help his team become better.
On the eve of the Filipinos’ first game in the Jones Cup against bitter rival Chinese Taipei-A, Baldwin downplayed past records and asked everyone to keep their eye on the ball.
“Chinese Taipei doesn’t mean anything to me (in this tournament),” Baldwin said of the side that dealt the Filipinos one of its only two losses in finishing second to Iran in the Fiba-Asia Manila in 2013. “They will mean something (if we play them again) in the Fiba-Asia.”
“History doesn’t mean anything to me as a coach,” he went on as Gilas nevertheless seeks to avenge that defeat in the 7 p.m. game at Xinchuang gymnasium on Sunday, which the Filipinos would have to pull out even without pillar Andray Blatche.
“I know it means a lot to the players, and we have to draw the positives out of it when we can,” he went on “If it (history of the two teams and countries) helps motivate the players, then fine.”
Baldwin reiterated the main reason why the Filipinos made the trip to here, the first time since winning it in 2012 when LA Tenorio – out of this group because of fatigue – won the MVP award.
“We want to win every game, but the priority is to keep improving,” he said. “I want to see us play with fighting spirit, to be tactically more comfortable with our systems.
“Of course, we need to learn a bit about Iran, Korea and Japan, the teams we’re playing (in the Fiba-Asia). It’s important that we’re here and important that we do a good job while we’re here.”
The game against the Taiwanese, who rallied from 13 points down and dealt them an 84-79 preliminary round defeat, will be the first of eight straight for the Filipinos, who went here with a 17-man rotation only to lose Blatche Saturday morning because of a family emergency back in the United States.
Team Philippines coaching staff will play with different 12-man rosters each game as allowed by tournament rules.
Iran, the Asian champion in three of the last five editions, flexed its might right on opening day and bamboozled the South Korean national team, 77-46, even with 7-foot-2 NBA veteran Hamed Hadadi playing less than 15 minutes and contributing just seven points.
The Wellington Saints of New Zealand also got off to a good start after a 102-89 victory over Chinese Taipei-B.
Four players scored all but six points of the entire Wellington total, with Richie Edwards tossing in 28 that went with eight rebounds and the same number of assists.
Ray Turner scored 25 points, had 16 boards and missed a triple double by just three assists. Bryan Davis and Eric Devendorf scored 22 and 21, respectively.