Ever since he arrived here in the Philippines, well-traveled head coach Tab Baldwin has put up coaching clinics on a yearly basis with the World Hoops Clinic.
And Baldwin has brought numerous internationally-renowned coaches to the clinics, including the likes of Dr. Nenad Trunic, Damir Milacic, Gilas Heda, Andrea Mazzon, Vasilis Fragkias, Ertugrul Erdogan, and Paul Henare just to name a few.
But in the latest statement of the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines, president Louie Gonzalez questioned the intention of it.
“He has been conducting basketball clinics in the last couple of years that cost more than what some coaches make in a month to participate in. In fact, his clinics are one of the most expensive ones in the country,” Gonzalez pointed out.
“He has not participated in free sharing of ideas, which other coaches do at this time of crisis in webinars, which other decorated coaches go out of their way to do. At the end of the day, his approach to basketball is ultimately a business.”
In comparison, Gonzalez shared that BCAP has partnered with different groups to regularly conduct free webinars for coaches. Moreover, BCAP has partnered with the likes of the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Sports Institute, Basketball University in Lithuania, and is recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
This is the second statement BCAP has released regarding Baldwin.
In their first statement, it read that Baldwin — an American-Kiwi coach who has been in the Olympics — was underestimating Filipinos.
This statement comes in the wake of Coach Baldwin’s guesting in Tiebreaker Vods’ Coaches Unfiltered, presented by SMART that saw some coaches take offense to what he had to say about the similarities and difference of the Philippines compared to the other places he coached in.
“To criticize something as inferior to others but not to do something to alleviate it makes the statement leave a bad taste in the mouth. Without the knowledge of how coaching is happening in the country and the history of founders and movers of Philippine Basketball makes his generalization a uniformed display of hypocrisy.”
For Gonzalez, his group will continue to give coaches, especially those in the grassroots, more opportunities to learn and grow in this time of a pandemic.
“BCAP remains steadfast in its belief that our main contribution to uplift the standards of Philippine Basketball may be slow but we in the coaching community are doing our part and fostering our brotherhood now more than ever in this time of crisis.”
