Gilas Pilipinas are planning to enter the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna in two weeks to prepare for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
But who will compose the pool for the national team? Even Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin does not know yet.
The American-Kiwi tactician has yet to talk to the players about it as they were laser-focused in their campaign in the 2021 Olympic Qualifying Tournament-Belgrade that saw them bow out in the group stages with a 0-2 slate.
“We haven’t discussed that yet with the players or the other basketball stakeholders at this point,” Baldwin bared after their 67-94 loss to the Dominican Republic.
Of course, the ideal situation is to have the band back together.
There are the 15 players who composed the team’s pool in the Clark window, namely Angelo Kouame, Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, Isaac Go, Javi Gomez de Liaño, Justine Baltazar, Mike Nieto, William Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab, Carl Tamayo, Jordan Heading, Lebron Lopez, RJ Abarrientos, Geo Chiu, and SJ Belangel.
Then there’s the return of injured players like Matt Nieto, Dave Ildefonso, Allyn Bulanadi, and Rey Suerte and cuts like Juan Gomez de Liano and Tzaddy Rangel.
However, Baldwin also knows that some of the players are on borrowed time as they might be called back by their mother teams and schools.
Sotto has yet to report to his NBL team Adelaide while UP, La Salle, and FEU might have plans set up already for Carl Tamayo, Justine Baltazar, and RJ Abarrientos, respectively.
“Everyone understands what we are talking about with regards to the collegiate teams and the PBA teams who have our draftees.
“This is obviously a question that should be directed to the SBP because there will be answers needed to that and relatively soon,” continued Baldwin, who is also the program director of Gilas Men.
The tournament is scheduled to take place from August 17-29. By then, the PBA might be in the midst of its Philippine Cup tournament.
That is why the participation of pro players is also a question mark as of the moment.
“We don’t know yet. As I said, there will have to be some discussions above my pay grade, I should say.”
