Gilas Pilipinas winds up with the silver medal in the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship after losing to host China Saturday night. Photo from Fiba.com
For Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios, one more month of preparations could have spelled the difference between Gilas Pilipinas’ silver medal finish and an automatic ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
READ: Gilas Pilipinas back home from Fiba Asia stint
That’s why when the next round of the Gilas Pilipinas comes around the corner, he is hoping that the squad of coach Tab Baldwin will have a longer time to jell.
“I have to commend coach Tab for many reasons,” Barrios said in the weekly PSA Forum in Shakey’s Malate on Tuesday.
“His know-how for international game is very different. He is preparation-conscious, which explains why he had so many plays. He has a lot of opponent-specific plays, which needs a longer preparation for the international game.”
READ: Baldwin: Gilas fought for the country
With Gilas Pilipinas only having seven weeks at most to prepare for the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship in Changsha, the silver medal finish is definitely an overachievement.
In contrast, China had seven months to build its team, completing the turnaround from its dismal fifth place finish in 2013.
Though the squad got upset by Palestine on its opening game, the players showed resiliency and proved every critic wrong with their run to the Finals.
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“After the loss to Palestine, the players were disappointed at themselves and they felt the disappointment of the whole country. In the practice, I told them to lick their wounds, and look at tomorrow as a new day. After that, we vented our ire against Hong Kong and won seven straight games,” he said. “The players talked to themselves and rallied, and they really worked hard.”
Looking back at the Finals, Barrios admitted that aside from some head-scratching calls made by the officials in the championship game, Gilas also didn’t play to its full potential.
READ: Barrios: China Fiba Asia hosting pales in comparison with Manila in 2013
“To be fair, I didn’t think we played our best in that game. If we played our best, that wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
Barrios firmly believes that more time for preparations coupled with the right team would yield better results, but he admits that there are problems that come along with that set up.
“The formula is to get the right coach, the right players, and prepare them for enough time. All we need is to have ample time for preparations, but there lies the problems in the future,” Barrios said.