Baldwin on PH’s FIBA Asia group: ‘We’re the team to beat in our pool’

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas will be taking on a new unfamiliar role come the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship this September: the role of favorites.

The Philippines, which has always been the underdog whether in Asia or on the world stage, was drawn into Group B of the biennial tournament together with Kuwait, Palestine and one more team from East Asia (either Hong Kong or Mongolia). 

The group is said to be the lightest as the national men’s basketball team, which surpassed odds and finished with a silver medal in the 2013 edition, won’t have to face tougher foes until later in the tourney. Understandably, head coach Tab Baldwin expects the Philippines to be the team to beat.

“We’re the team to beat in our pool and I intend to keep it that way. But we’ll respect our opponents,” he said Sunday, June 28 after watching the quarterfinals match-up between Globalport and the Star Hotshots.

“We need to play good basketball every game that we play because that’s how you build a championship mentality,” he added, saying that he would never dismiss the other countries in the group as “easy.”

“You don’t go and say this is gonna be an easy game and take it easy yourself. You go and do the best you can and you build your team, you build your performances. And you build the quality of your team with every game you play. That’s what we intend to do.”

Unlike popular opinion and contrary to the nation’s collective sigh of relief with the result of the draw, Baldwin is not putting much weight on it as far as Gilas’ chances are concerned.

For Baldwin, “a draw is a draw” and it is neither an advantage or a disadvantage, with the ultimate goal of winning gold in clear sight.

“I don’t really look at a draw as a preference or not,” he explained. “We’re going there to win a gold medal. We are one of the favored teams. We gotta beat the good teams whether we play them early, whether we play them late. The draw doesn’t really impact that too much.”

Because of the perceived “light” group, Baldwin does not want his future Gilas players to be complacent, noting that he has played against stronger teams in the past where his weaker team pulled off upsets.

“If we’re gonna win a gold medal, we’re gonna beat strong teams in the quarters and semis and finals and that’s where it’s gonna be determined whether we deserve our top seeding and whether we earn a gold medal.”

(READ: Baldwin and his plan to take Gilas to Rio)

Baldwin has yet to finalize the Gilas roster with the PBA season still ongoing. But he has already put together a 26-man player pool from which to select his final lineup.

The FIBA Asia Championship will happen from September 23 to October 3 in China. The gold medal winner automatically qualifies for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, while the silver and bronze medalists will be relegated to the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which is the last qualifying tournament for the Olympics. – Rappler.com