Nash Racela says local coaches doing part to improve

Blackwater head coach Nash Racela does not feel bothered with the comments and suggestions made by Gilas Pilipinas program director Tab Baldwin during Thursday’s episode of Tiebreaker Vods’ Coaches Unfiltered presented by SMART. 

When asked for comment, Racela — a UAAP champion coach with Far Eastern University and holds decades worth of coaching experience — shared that he would rather focus on the strides being made by local coaches.

“Actually not bothered by coach Tab’s statement, so I’d rather comment more on our local coaches.”

During the podcast, Baldwin was asked about what differentiated Philippine basketball from the rest of the world.

One of the responses the well-traveled and decorated tactician made was the Philippine style of play was not like the European style, which has been thriving over the past two decades.

“So the biggest thing that annoys me, and I think the biggest surprise to me, was the tactical immaturity of Philippine basketball coaches. And so what do I mean by that? I mean that they are significantly unaware of the tactical advancements and the systemic advancements of coaching systems coming out of Europe — in particular which, you know, are built on the backs of player development. And so our player development here is mature, and our appreciation for tactical advancement and tactical systems is immature,” he said.

For Racela, the industry itself is open to more learning — something clearly evident in the attendance in coaching webinars during the pandemic.

“My personal observation is that our coaching fraternity is growing in knowledge, and is very open to new and bright ideas. This was greatly seen in the huge attendance lately in many online webinars presented during the ongoing lockdown,” he expressed.

Racela hopes that the coaching fraternity would be united at this time instead of being divided. Moreover, he believes that this “break” is a chance for everyone to expand their basketball knowledge.

After all, the ultimate goal is to improve the game not for them, but for the Filipino cager and the country.

“My encouragement to my fellow coaches (whether local or foreign) is to just do our part in helping grow the game in our country. A lot of opportunities are in front of us, especially during this time of pandemic, so please work on our availability when invited,” he said.

“At the end of the day, one’s growth should be the growth of everyone else.”