THE opening game of Gilas Pilipinas in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament the country will be hosting six months from now is first and foremost the concern of coach Tab Baldwin.
The veteran mentor said winning the team’s first game should say a lot about the Filipinos’ campaign in the July 4-10 qualifier to the Rio De Janeiro Olympics later this year.
“I’m just worried about who we will be playing in our first game in the tournament,” said Baldwin on Tuesday in the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at Shakey’s Malate. “In a short tournament like this, you must come out winning.”
Accompanied by team manager Butch Antonio in the public service program presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Baldwin’s appearance in the weekly session came less than 24 hours before the drawing of lots in Geneva to determine the six teams that will see action in the three qualifiers to be held simultaneously with the Manila tournament.
Serbia and Italy are the other countries hosting the two qualifying meets.
Eighteen countries to be divided into three groups, are participating in the race for the three remaining Olympic berths.
Five teams will be joining Gilas in the Manila leg of the qualifier based on the result of the draw held early Wednesday morning here.
The six teams will be split into two brackets of three each. Groupmates play each other once in the preliminaries and the top two placers advance to the knockout semifinals, with the survivors disputing the ticket to Rio.
Baldwin said he has no outright answer on the chances of Gilas Pilipinas to finally make it back to the Olympics after a 43-year absence.
“I don’t have any answers on what our chances (are). I just believe as I’ve said before, the Philippine team is capable of winning every offensive and defensive possession in the game. But we’re capable of losing them as well. So we just need to win more than we lose. So we need to prepare for that end.”
Any which way, playing in the tournament is going to be tough.
“You must remember all the teams playing here are second, third, and fourth placers of their respective FIBA zones. It’s just like a mini World Cup,” said Antonio.
Gilas Pilipinas clinched a berth in the qualifier by virtue of its runner up finish behind China during the FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship in Changsha last year.
“So whoever is there, we’ll just have to do our best. Try to prepare as much as we can,” he added.