Baldwin ‘anxious’ over incomplete roster as Olympic q’fiers near

Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin talks to players during Wednesday’s practice.

Gilas Pilipinas is heading into crunch time and with just more than a month before the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July, Tab Baldwin and his players have to work on overdrive.

Time is of the essence for Baldwin, but the roster he had on Wednesday is still not complete.

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Foreign reinforcement Andray Blatche has yet to arrive and shooter Jeff Chan is still recovering from a groin injury.

“It’s an anxious time when you don’t have all your players,” said Baldwin after their practice at Meralco Gym. “As a coach you’re uncomfortable when you don’t have all the players, it’s an environment that’s not conducive to development.”

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A week ago, the Gilas pool was immediately devoid of two players when center Greg Slaughter and wingman Matt Ganuelas-Rosser were cut due to injury.

Paul Lee was the next to go due to recurring knee problems.

Baldwin, though, is making the most of the players who are giving their all since Gilas Pilipinas resumed practice this month.

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“The guys are doing their job, I was going to say they’re buying in but it’s more than that,” said Baldwin. “I think they bought in from the beginning, they’re understanding more and more what we want and we’re still just working on offense.”

Baldwin added they will have to start learning both offensive and defensive schemes once Blatche joins the team.

READ: Blatche arrival delayed as Gilas resumes practice Wednesday

Blatche is expected to arrive this week and join the training.

“Until we get Andray in and then we’ll start fleshing out the whole system, defense and offense.”