Gilas Pilipinas’ remarkable showing in the recent 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers has Yeng Guiao very much excited about the future.
The former national team mentor was in awe after seeing the youth-laden crew of head coach Tab Baldwin defy the odds by winning all three of their games in the third window to complete a six-game sweep of the ACQ.
“I think the future looks good,” he offered in The Gilas Zone, Sunday.
“Coach Tab has [done] an excellent job bringing this team together.“
What makes Guiao so stoked about the new-age Gilas is the size it flexed in Clark with 7-foot centers Kai Sotto and Ange Kouame and also Justine Baltazar, a 6-foot-8 big who’s being utilized often at the three-spot.
“One thing I’m happy about for the future of Philippine basketball is with Kai Sotto, with Ange Kouame, and Justine Baltazar, and the rest of the big guys,” expressed the 62-year-old bench tactician.
“I think we have the size that we’ve been looking forward to having to compete against the size of other countries.”
But on top of it all, really, was the victories, highlighted of course by their two wins over long-time rivals South Korea — the Philippines’ first back-to-back victories over the Asian basketball force in nearly half a century.
“You know, Korea was a big test for us and we passed that test at this early stage,” lauded Guiao, who manned the sidelines of an all-PBA national team that bowed to the Koreans in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
“But, there will be bigger tests in the next windows. So, this is a good start for us.”
For Guiao, the ACQ success is a good building block for Gilas’ ultimate goal of forming the best team possible for the 2023 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the Philippines with Japan and Indonesia.
“The experience and the confidence they built up is really good for the team, since this is a young team,” he said.
“This is in preparation for the World Cup here in the Philippines in 2023, so I think we have two years to still improve.”
As impressive as the young guns were, though, Guiao still believes that the men’s team can be more formidable with the addition of professionals.
Before Gilas went with all-Cadet units in the last two ACQ windows, the program has always had PBA players involved. A ‘hybrid’ pool — a mix of pros and top amateurs — was built for the first window last year.
Seven pros actually bannered the 12-man team that clobbered Indonesia in Jakarta back in January 2020, namely Kiefer Ravena, Troy Rosario, Roger Pogoy, Poy Erram, CJ Perez, Abu Tratter, and Justin Chua.
It remains to be seen how players from Asia’s first pro league will be part of the program moving forward, but Baldwin has always insisted that Gilas remains open to adding PBA players as long as they can commit time.
And Guiao, the coach of the PBA-backed squad that saw action in the last World Cup in China, definitely hopes to see pros in the national team again.
“Probably, we can still make this lineup stronger,” the NLEX head coach opined. “I think AJ Edu is still going to be available. And I’m not sure if the PBA still is going to allow some other talented players to play for Gilas.
“So, if we can combine the core of this team with the size and then we have AJ Edu coming in, and then we have a few veterans from the PBA who can also contribute not just their basketball talent but their experience and leadership, I think we’ll be in good shape in 2023. I’m looking forward to that.“
