Baldwin admits having a talk with Reyes about the national team.
Over a week ago, Tab Baldwin and Chot Reyes, were found sharing a space. And it’s not the basketball court.
The former Gilas Pilipinas coach went side by side with the national team’s current tactician in the Smart Sports Invitational golf tournament. It’s hard to imagine that the two only focused on golf during that day.
They didn’t.
On Saturday, after the FIBA World Cup draw, Baldwin revealed to One Sports about talking with Reyes on the state of affairs of Gilas, which is currently not in the best shape considering that the Southeast Asian Games is coming up and the pool is facing some roster loopholes.
“Chot just said there’s some challenges with the roster but he’s looking forward to getting into camp with the team and he’s looking forward to putting in the work,” Baldwin told One Sports.
“He [Chot] just hopes again that he can get the players that he really wants and that he really needs, and understands that it’s gonna be a challenge,” Baldwin elaborated.
The Philippines, eyeing redemption at the SEA Games after settling for a disappointing silver in the last biennial meet, may be looking at a rough path to getting the gold medal back.
Baldwin, who’s not new to the challenges of running a national program, does not envy Reyes’ situation.
“He’s going into the tournament probably feeling a bit like an underdog, which is unusual for SEA Games,” said the Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles mentor.
Still, Coach Tab thinks there will be light at the end of the tunnel for the Cambodia stint. Baldwin said the roster woes can still be ironed out and the positives may even carry over to the FIBA World Cup.
“He still can assemble a pretty good team, and they’re gonna have to fight like dogs which should be good for those players who will ultimately make the World Cup roster—if the players do get through that far,” Baldwin shared.
The former New Zealand drillmaster is preaching all-out support for Reyes, who is headed to Laguna today alongside the Gilas squad for their training camp as part of the SEA Games preps.
“Building the roster in the Philippines is a challenge. You just have to wish him the best support, whoever decides to become part of our Gilas team, and just hope they get excellent preparation,” Baldwin explained.
“I think we should all be pulling behind and offer him [Chot] whatever services we can.”