Coach Tab Baldwin. Photo from Fiba.com
CHANGSHA CITY, China—Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin says his crew is still “erratic” after three games in the Fiba Asia Olympic Qualifier here.
This doesn’t mean, though, that he believes the Filipinos won’t be able to get the job done.
“We’ve seen them rise to the occasion when the expectations are high,” Baldwin told international media after a 110-64 trampling of a physical Kuwait five on Friday night at Changsha Social Work College gym here.
“If erratic is the form that we are looking for, then we are pretty well placed right here (after the first round of the preliminaries),” he said.
“We have high expectations for the next round and the remainder of the tournament. And we expect to rise to that challenge.”
The Filipinos take a much-needed break Saturday to polish some of their plays for the tougher grind ahead.
“We saw what we wanted to see, we know where we need to improve, and now we’re looking forward to the second round,” Baldwin said.
The second round will definitely see the Filipinos take another crack at defending champion Iran, which the Philippines hasn’t beaten in two years, or since the 2012 Jones Cup, where the Iranians played without Hamed Haddadi and lost, 77-75.
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