Gilas Pilipinas program director Tab Baldwin said the inclusion of several Ateneo players in the ongoing training bubble will be beneficial in helping other members of the national team pool get familiarized with the system as quickly as they can.
“It does give the Ateneo players a little bit of an advantage in terms of recognition and comfort, both with the system and with my coaching style,” Baldwin said in an interview with One Sports’ The Game.
Among the notable Blue Eagles who are part of the Gilas training bubble at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna are SJ Belangel and Gian Mamuyac, who Baldwin believes will be one of those who will serve as an extension to the coaching staff.
“He’s like having another coach out there, and it’s a big question mark for him if he’ll be elite enough to be in that roster,” Baldwin said.
“But certainly in the standpoint of contributing to the training environment, his familiarity and comfort with what we do, what we’re trying to do and how we do things, that really helps the other players, particularly the younger players because they really need the guidance as much as they can get,” added Baldwin.
Some of the young cagers in Calamba are Ateneo high school standout LeBron Lopez, Far Eastern University’s RJ Abarrientos and University of the Philippines recruit Carl Tamayo.
They join the regular Gilas pool members in Isaac Go, Rey Suerte, brothers Matt and Mike Nieto and Ateneo’s Dave Ildefonso, Dwight Ramos and Ange Kouame, who is one step away from becoming a naturalized Filipino.
Also in Calamba are Jordan Heading, Will Navarro, Tzaddy Rangel and JD Tungcab. who were recently drafted by some PBA teams in the special round for Gilas players.
The training bubble is not only part of Gilas’ preparation for the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June and July but also to hone the skills of the young players for future international competitions.
“Not only is this the youngest Gilas group ever assembled, it's probably the youngest that could be assembled and still called Gilas,” said Baldwin, whose team holds twice-a-day practices on a daily basis.