Head coach Tab Baldwin talks to Gilas big men. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
June Mar Fajardo’s absence in Gilas Pilipinas’ early Thursday morning practices brought back old concerns for coach Tab Baldwin as he was left with only four front court guys during the session.
The injuries underscored the reality that there were just not enough players in the national team pool.
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“We only had four big men in practice today. This is one of the limitations of having a pool too small.
They didn’t get a break in practice, and that’s what contributes to practices having less intensity than they should when you don’t have enough bodies in practice to give the players the breaks that they need,” he said.
Baldwin only had Marc Pingris, Ranidel de Ocampo, Japeth Aguilar, and reserve Mo Tautuaa for the practice.
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But it’s not just the big men.
Marcio Lassiter (flu), Jeff Chan (groin), and cadet Kiefer Ravena (personal reasons) all missed practice, leaving Baldwin with only 11 able bodies for the session.
Greg Slaughter (ankle), Matt Ganuelas-Rosser (ankle), and Paul Lee (knee) all have earlier begged off from national team duties due to lingering injuries.
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“We just need a bigger pool. We needed it from the beginning, that’s why we had all those cadets in the Monday night practices,” Baldwin said. “I don’t think it’s something that people understand. You cannot have a development plan with a team without a significant number of players during the training sessions because of injuries and absences, and also, you can’t up the intensity level that you expect during practices.”
Still, he would rather have these concerns now than face it later with the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament just barely a month to go.
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“It’s better to get them right now, especially we have a day off tomorrow. We got a couple of days to recover and that will be better for us,” he said.
Gilas Pilipinas takes a breather on Friday before going back to work on Saturday, when naturalized center Andray Blatche finally jojns the team for the buildup.