Heading into their clash against Serbia, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin always emphasized that this will act as a class for his young players.
He viewed the world’s no. 5-ranked team as teachers to his pupils.
And after a grueling 40-minute encounter at the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall in Belgrade, Serbia, Baldwin hopes that they were able to answer some of the questions in this examination.
“Apart of a little bit of composure late, I thought we answered most of the questions that were asked of us by Serbia today,” said Baldwin after their 76-83 loss to Serbia in the 2021 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Understandably, Boban Marjanovic, Milos Teodosic, and Serbia overwhelmed Gilas early in the game.
For the first 23 minutes of the game, the Eagles held a double-digit lead, built on their trademark sniping and the power of Marjanovic. The lead would swell up to as high as 16 points, 56-40, midway through the third canto.
But what could have been an opening of the floodgate became a wake-up call for Gilas.
The young guns of Gilas, headed by Kai Sotto, RJ Abarrientos, Justine Baltazar, and Carl Tamayo, put up a rally — not just an explosion, but also a tough defensive stance.
With Jordan Heading’s big shots; Abarrientos’ daredevil drives; and even big plays from Mike Nieto, Gilas would gain a surprising 74-73 lead with 3:50 lead.
However, the lead would only last for 18 seconds. The combination of Marjanovic’s power and missed chances on the other end stopped an upset of epic proportions from happening.
“A lot of people will see this as a moral victory. But I’ve been in this game for such a long time, I just don’t believe in those.
“We had chances late, good open looks. I think Ange [Kouame] missed a couple; SJ [Belangel] missed one; and Justine Baltazar missed one and they were really good looks. They would have put Serbia under more pressure than they were late in the game,” he lamented.
“Sometimes, with a young and developing team, the occasion may be bigger than we are. But that’s what the learning process is all about,” he shared.
With the way they performed, Baldwin believes that the game should have been winnable by all accounts.
But at least they were able to accomplish one of their tasks which was to give Serbia a hard time.
“I was very proud of the effort today. I want to play better than we played and I know that we can be better. We will play better. Certainly, the flow of the game was very competitive and we put in a great effort.”
But as he has always emphasized, this Gilas team does not live in the accolades of yesterday. There is a new challenge that lies ahead. And in less than 24 hours, they will face the Dominican Republic with a slot in the semis of the OQT at stake.
