Gilas Pilipinas Men was not supposed to compete in the 2021 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament after finishing dead last in the 2019 World Cup.
But when New Zealand pulled out of the event, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas immediately grabbed the opportunity to play in the topflight event.
Facing the likes of world no. 5 Serbia, no. 19 the Dominican Republic — and hopefully no. 10 Italy or no. 18 Puerto Rico — is an excellent chance for the team.
“We’re excited to be here. We didn’t really plan this in our schedule but when New Zealand pulled out, the opportunity arose. And FIBA kindly invited the Philippines,” said Gilas head coach and program director Tab Baldwin.
“We are very excited to come.”
Baldwin’s Gilas program only started in February of 2020 with the goal of developing the country’s young and up-and-coming stars. And, eventually, make them ready for the 2023 World Cup.
The results have been spectacular so far, though. Gilas swept the group stages of the 2021 Asia Cup Qualifiers, 6-0.
But that is Asian-level competition. Now, Gilas face powerhouses in both the Americas and Europe — a huge step up in competition for the one-year-old program.
“It’s probably sort of advanced in terms to where our program is particularly at. We are using a bunch of young, amateur players, we are not bringing the professionals out of the Philippine ranks. We come in here excited and feeling good, but we understand that this is a very, very big step up in level for our basketball team,” said Baldwin.
“We expect to compete and take a lot of lessons out of this.”
Welcoming the team to the world stage is Serbia, which is headlined by floor general Milos Teodosic.
For context, Teodosic won both the Euroleague MVP and the FIBA Europe Player of the Year awards when both SJ Belangel and RJ Abarrientos were just 10 years young. When Belangel and Abarrientos were starting to make their names in the UAAP High School ranks, the 6-foot-5 wizard was already in the NBA.
Just recently, Teodosic won the EuroCup MVP award at the age of 34.
And so Baldwin hopes that Belangel and Abarrientos, the remaining floor generals of Gilas, learn from him.
“When you play against a player like Teodosic, you both want to compete. You’re desperate to test your skills against a player who’s played at a level that Milos has, and is a caliber of a player he is. But the other thing we keep alluding to is we want to learn lessons,” he said.
“We want to realize that you’re going up against a master of the game and there are things that you can learn from the big picture when you go back and review the video, but also you want to test yourself and what you can learn from possession-to-possession.
“Everything he does well, you try and counter as quickly as you can. And we do that in the scouting reports, we try to prepare our players. But there’s nothing like actually going out there and standing toe-to-toe with some of these Serbian players,” he continued.
But it’s not just Belangel and Abarrientos who are in for a masterclass session.
Also in Serbia’s lineup are swingman Nemanja Bjelica; big man Boban Marjanovic; and vets like Stefan Jovic and Vasilije Micic.
Besides the players, this will also be a learning experience for Baldwin and his staff since Serbia is coached by former Phoenix Suns chief tactician Igor Kokoškov.
“I see them as world-class — I see them being elite. I think Serbia right now, arguably, is in the top three teams in the world. If they had Jokic and Bogdanovic, it would cement that thinking. But this is a country that continuously produces great players and great teams. As importantly, the best coaches in the world.
“As you put all those things in, you should expect a high-caliber basketball team. Now that they are playing for a berth in the Olympics and at home, you have a formula for a great team. That’s what we expect to run out of the court within a couple of days,” said Baldwin, who steered New Zealand to the Olympics in the 2000s.
