Baldwin: Switch to old Gilas program beneficial for cadets, country

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Tab Baldwin is all for reverting the national team program back to the original blueprint that led to the creation of Gilas Pilipinas.

Baldwin, the Philippine men’s national basketball team coach, whose reputation and legendary status were made in the international stage, sees the rebirth of the concept of training the country’s best young talents in the amateur ranks as beneficial for both parties.

“I think the opportunity to train full time, to play games against international opponents, to play games against different styles of basketball, to play games against players better than you are, teams that are better than us, I think it’s invaluable for the player not just the country,” the Gilas Pilipinas head coach told reporters shortly after wrapping up Gilas’ latest practice on Wednesday at Meralco Gym.

READ: PBA stars out of Gilas soon;  SBP reverting to cadet program

A similar program was built under the direction of sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan in 2009. The team were led by the likes of JVee Casio, Chris Tiu, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz and Mark Barroca, players who are now stars in their own right in the PBA, and was steered by Serbian coach Rajko Toroman. That Gilas squad also featured a naturalized player in Marcus Douthit.

The national team currently has a team of fresh out of college players led by Ray Parks and Kiefer Ravena, who have already expressed their commitment to playing for flag and country over turning pro.

Baldwin believes there’s no better way for players to maximize their full potential than strutting their stuff internationally.

READ: Ravena, Parks forego PBA Draft plans for Gilas cadets program

“And I would say that for any league in the world, if you have the opportunity, especially for young guys, if they have the opportunity to build their bodies because they’re not going to be burdened by the PBA schedule where you get no offseason really, you get no time to train, they’re gonna have a lot of time to do that and as young players that’s invaluable,” he said. “They’ll get a magnitude of individual skill and training, get a variety of coaching, we will bring expertise in from all over the world and they will get a quality and a variety of opposition that’s gonna be an invaluable and unique to a cadet environment. I don’t think there’s any decision to be made.”

“In fact, I know a lot of players that when they get close to retirement, if you look back and offer them that option when they were young, they’d say they would pay you for that kind of experience and that kind of option because later on, the benefits are invaluable,” Baldwin added. “But that’s the reality and how other people would see it, I don’t know. I’ve spent most of my life in the international game and I know what an incredible teacher that is and if they have the opportunity to be there for some duration of time, I think they’d be crazy to miss out on that.”

Troy Rosario, who recently wrapped another gold medal around his neck after leading the Gilas Cadets in the Seaba tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, thinks it’s time for the revival of the old program to happen.

“Sa tingin ko mas okay yung ganong setup para at least may ready na agad na mga players kasi laging nagkakaroon ng conflict sa schedule ng PBA so mas okay na ngayon pa lang sinisimulan na.”