Gilas Pilipinas’ final roster for the Fiba World Cup with the exception of Chris Newsome, who was the last player to get cut. –FIBA PHOTO
BOCAUE—Former Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin is calling on every Filipino to rally behind the Philippine team in the Fiba World Cup.
“This is a dog-eat-dog world, so the typical fan doesn’t know how hard this is,” Baldwin told reporters in a chance encounter just a few steps outside the Philippine Arena on Friday before Gilas took on the Dominican Republic.
“This is a real war and these guys are engaged. They’re at war right now and all we can do is just get behind them, you know, just fight with them with everything we’ve got, everything that we can do,” he said.
“I think if we don’t do that, then we should be accountable in some way. And none of us should want to be that person. We should all be the guys who did everything they could to help this team get to what they’re trying to achieve.”
FILE – Tab Baldwin. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Baldwin arrived at the venue with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, sympathetic of what Chot Reyes and this current Gilas roster have gone through in preparation for the global showcase.
“Chot’s has had different challenges than I have. You know, I have youth [but] he has limited time in preparation. It may seem he has a lot of time in preparation but it was very disrupted by injuries and availabilities.
“And probably you know, Chot wouldn’t be terribly thrilled with the buildup games they have been able to get. He would have liked tougher games. But you know it’s tough here in the Philippines because you can’t lose too many games cause everybody’s on your neck,” he said.
Baldwin, who led the Philippines to a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore and silvers in the 2015 editions of Jones Cup and Fiba Asia, feels that Reyes has put together a capable crew.
“He’s built a team that I think that’s gonna come here and play good basketball,” he said.
But Baldwin is also realistic about the team’s chances—which will begin against the Dominican Republic later at 8 p.m.
“Whether that’s gonna be winning basketball is really tough when you get thrown into the pit with all these you know, vicious, tough teams that are in this tournament all vying for respect, success and world rankings and their own opportunities to pursue Olympic berths,” Baldwin said.
“I’m pulling hard for Gilas just wish them all the very best and every success.”
