Golf enthusiasts trooped to Dasmarinas, Cavite on Thursday for the Smart Sports Invitational golf tournament. Among the attendees were two familiar faces in the Philippine basketball scene—Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes and the previous national team tactician, Tab Baldwin.
It's a heartening sight to witness the two coaches bond as the Philippine men's national basketball team is still juggling with a full complement of players for practice, just a few weeks left before the start of the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
A big chunk of the contingent, coming from Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and TNT Tropang Giga, are still occupied in the crucial stretch of the PBA Governors' Cup finals.
That partnership with the San Miguel Corporation has provided a boost for the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP). Coach Tim Cone has been providing valuable knowledge and insight on defense, while reigning PBA MVP Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo have been stellar during the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers.
Will Baldwin also return for Gilas?
He did get a call from SBP president Al Panlilio back in September, as he revealed to Noli Eala in the sports show Power and Play. But the former Gilas Pilipinas program director didn't disclose any details.
Baldwin had reiterated several times. It has to be Reyes' choice.
"He has to think about that decision—if he’s even thinking of that decision—based on would my inclusion be a positive for the team. That’s a complex question and a complex answer," Baldwin told Eala last year.
The two go a few years back. A training camp in New Zealand for the FIBA Asia Championship in 2013 proved to be the spark for Reyes to bring in Baldwin as a consultant.
The Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles mentor, for his part, expressed his willingness to help. And his experience with Gilas Pilipinas and bringing the New Zealand national team to fourth place in the 2006 World Cup is invaluable. His Ateneo ward Mason Amos is in the pool as well.
"I don’t want to impose any pressure on Chot. But from my position, I’m trying to help, and if this is the sum-total of the help that I could give, that’s fine," he said back in September.
"I think we all have to commit to being the greatest sixth man in the history of the sport for this team, for World Cup 2023."
Maybe it's time to revisit things. After all, the FIBA World Cup 2023 mantra is to "Win For All."