Former Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
He may no longer be the head coach of the Gilas Pilipinas, but coach Tab Baldwin said that it won’t stop him from still extending his hand to the national team.
Baldwin returns to his old consultant role as Chot Reyes was reinstated as the head mentor.
“It’s disappointing, of course. But I still have an opportunity to work with Gilas and still be a part of the program,” he said on Wednesday.
READ: Chot Reyes returns as Gilas head coach, Baldwin as consultant
Baldwin only held the post for 22 months after his appointment back on January 2015.
The move may be disappointing for his part, but Baldwin is willing to do whatever it is to help the national team.
“I can’t say anything other than how passionate I am about Gilas being successful,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter who’s at the helm. It isn’t about me, it isn’t about any single individual – it’s about the national team and the national program. So being a part of that means giving everything I’ve got for them, which is what I did from day one and what I will do until the day whenever I’m finished with the program. The bosses know that, Chot knows that, and that’s where we’re at.”
READ: Back as Gilas coach, Chot tells cadets: Join PBA draft
Though it had been a short run as the lead, Baldwin shared that he treasured his time steering the national team, something which he calls a “dream come true.”
“My time with Gilas was a dream come true for me in the head coaching role,” he said. “I learned in my time here that the very thing that I’ve lived my whole life, my passion for the game matched the passion of the people in the country. So I felt that I was a round peg in a round hole, so to speak. And so that’s disappointing when that doesn’t continue.”
But Baldwin knows there’s no time to weep as he takes on a different role for Gilas Pilipinas, whose goal to make its mark in the world stage continues.
READ: Baldwin says Gilas Pilipinas needs ‘beatings’ to improve
“It’s disappointing any time you lose a job. But I’ve learned quite a while ago that I can’t worry about things that I don’t control, and I don’t control the Gilas program,” he said.
Baldwin steered Gilas Pilipinas to a silver finish in the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship in Changsha Hunan, China and led valiant run in the 2016 Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament here, which proved to be his last competition.
“Our coaching staff, the players, we gave everything we had – as you’re supposed to. That’s not a pat on the back and that’s not asking for credit. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do, and I think that we did that. And our management believes that at this point, that wasn’t good enough, so they’re gonna go in a different direction. They are offering to take me along with them in another role, and I’ve always said that it’s an honor for me to work for MVP and the group,” he said.
READ: Baldwin thanks ‘noble’ Gilas
Baldwin admits he won’t choose being consultant if given a chance, but he’s committed to whatever is going to be asked of him in Gilas’ upcoming campaign.
“It’s an honor to work in the national program and for the people of the Philippines, and that doesn’t change. It’s still an honor,” he said. “If you laid out any role that I could have that I wanted, I wouldn’t choose consultant, but that doesn’t matter; it’s not my decision. The powers-that-be have made their decisions, and I’m on board. And just like losing a game, you lick your wounds, you get back up and you do your job. And I have no intention to do anything other than that.”