When the Tall Blacks were starting to impose their will on Gilas on Sunday, the fans inside the SMART Araneta Coliseum got rowdy, to say the least.
Expressing their frustration not just with the impending result of the contest but also the Gilas program itself, the fans heckled the team with “We want Baldwin” chants.
Netizens on social media also chimed in, making “Tab Baldwin” trend moments after Gilas’ 88-63 loss.
In an interview with CNN Sportsdesk a day later, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes admitted that he did not hear the chants on the court.
But he also expected it.
“I didn’t hear it to be honest,” he said on Monday morning. “I expected it. I accepted this job with my eyes wide open.
“I knew I was going to get wildly bashed, criticized, and hated upon and I still took it nonetheless because that’s never going to get in the way of my service for the country, and that’s the least of my problems.”
On January 31 — just 22 days before the Quezon City window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, Baldwin was removed from his position as program director of the national team.
Replacing him was Reyes, who was fresh off steering TNT to the top in the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup.
A lot of things happened behind the scenes during the lead-up to that moment which was later on disclosed by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan.
For Reyes, the results of the Quezon City window do not reflect what he has planned for the program.
After all, he has only been in the job for just a month now.
“To be honest, they don’t know what’s going on inside,” he said about the fans clamoring for Baldwin’s comeback. “Unless they are in the innards of the team, then whatever they say has very little meaning to me and I don’t pay any attention to it.
“I have a lot bigger problems on my plate right now than to mind those haters and bashers.”
Moreover, he is hoping for understanding.
“We never know what people are going through so let’s be kind and be compassionate.”
