It did not come as a surprise for Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin that Jordan Heading delivered well in the Nationals’ recent campaigns.
The 25-year-old left many in awe with his solid outings that helped the all-amateur squad string together success — from the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers’ third window to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia.
“It’s not a surprise,” he told Radyo5’s Power and Play. “I mean, he can really shoot the ball; he’s a pretty clever guy; he understands our systems pretty well.
“He’s a tough cookie, you know. He’s not afraid to go into the paint against bigger players and finish at the rim.”
Photo by FIBA.basketball
The Asia Cup Qualifiers marked the return of Heading to the national team a decade after playing for Gilas Youth. And he made it a comeback to remember by helping his side complete a 3-0 sweep of the window.
His best performance came in their last game, though. He made 10 points on 50-percent shooting to help the Filipino dribblers down South Korea, 82-77.
Heading then carried over his fine play in Belgrade OQT. There, Gilas came just minutes away from stunning the hosts, the fifth-ranked team in the world, before bowing, 76-83. He finished with 13 markers in the defeat.
The Fil-Australian guard kept it going 24 hours later versus the Dominican Republic. He made three treys in the first half that kept the Philippines, until their foes adjusted after the break and zoomed to the 94-67 win.
Heading made 16 points on four triples versus the Dominicans. He then ended the campaign with an average of a team-best 14.5 points in the OQT.
“I expect all the players to play well, and Jordan played very well,” Baldwin praised.
“I mean, he makes mistakes as they all do, and some of those we don’t see, I guess, the average fan doesn’t see.
“And those are things he can fix and perform even better and help the team perform better. But I think from passing the eye test stance, he performed extremely well,” added the multi-decorated coach.
With this, Baldwin expects Heading to continue his ways, which will be of help with the many cage wars coming up for Gilas moving forward.
“He’s got a lot of improving to do, but the fact that we started him shows that we have a lot of confidence in him. And he played the minutes, and he gave us really good returns.
“He had a good run, and we don’t see any reason why that should stop,” closed the men’s team program director.
