Gilas Pilipinas during singing the Philippine national anthem. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
GILAS Pilipinas was on the verge of losing a 23-point lead against Iran in the dying minutes of their game Wednesday night when assistant coach Alex Compton asked head tactician Tab Baldwin to not do anything.
“Alex told me to settle down, [that] this is good for us,” Baldwin told reporters after the Nationals got a scare and survived the severely undermanned Iranians, 81-70, in an exhibition match that had a good-sized crowd worried at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“He is right; it’s better that we have that situation rather than [win with a 20-point blowout and not learn anything from the end of the game,” Baldwin said. “We need those scenarios.”
Baldwin later revealed the 14 members of the team that would embark on a back-breaking camp in Europe starting tomorrow and stressed that the team is making great strides leading to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, slated July 5 to 10 at Mall of Asia Arena.
“I think we’re better, but it’s still a long way to go.”
While the team learned something by holding on to win against the Iranians, Baldwin has something a lot more important to work on during the team’s three-week European sojourn.
“How can a group of guys be humble and cocky at the same time? I mean cocky and not confident,” Baldwin asked. “They’re humble because that’s their nature; they’re cocky because they’re elite players in the PBA and we got to hammer that out of them.
“We’re not going to be elite (on the international stage) by doing things that we do in the PBA. It’s a different type of basketball, a different level of players and a different level of team depth when you talk about national teams from Europe and Canada.”
Baldwin said he felt proud watching Gilas survive adversity against Iran.
“When guys make plays, that’s important for me to see,” Baldwin said of the plays the Filipinos came up with after the Iranians had come within 70-72 after trailing, 44-67, late in the third quarter.