TAB BALDWIN seems to have the most thankless job on earth.
A few days after the announcement of the final roster of Gilas Pilipinas players was made on national television, the issue on the last two cuts, Calvin Abueva in particular, just doesn’t want to die down.
LA Tenorio was the other one left out of the Final 12 and made into a reserve like Abueva, whose exclusion has practically gotten the entire country questioning Baldwin’s wisdom.
Social media was flooded with words of sympathy for Abueva and harsh accusations on Baldwin, who was accused of playing favorites by taking in Tropang TNT rookie Troy Rosario over the hard-fighting Alaska forward.
Baldwin took 14 intrepid men to a trying camp in Greece before playing Turkey and losing horribly and then participating in a four-nation pocket tournament in Italy last week where the Filipinos finished third after beating undermanned China, 72-69.
Before that clash with the Chinese, Baldwin made the announcement on who the final 12 would be, with TV5 airing the event live and making Jimmy Alapag do the announcement by rattling off four names at a time. The shoo-ins led by Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo, Jason Castro and Marc Pingris were the first names called and when Abueva wasn’t there after eight were announced, this corner sensed that something surprising was about to come up.
I actually thought that Alapag would announce Abueva’s name last, just for drama.But never did it cross my mind that Abueva wouldn’t make it.
*****
With Baldwin unreachable after the announcement, the team being in Bologna at that time, reporters were left trying to get assessments from other coaches to ask why the heck was Abueva cut.
Arab News talked to three PBA coaches, one of them just recently axed, and all said that height is the common denominator why Abueva and Tenorio were left out of the team.
The coaches all asked not to be named, since it wasn’t their business naming the National team members to begin with, one of them said.
One asked the nation to not second guess Baldwin, because the Gilas Pilipinas mentor saw what he needed to see in their 18-day European swing and made his judgment based on that.
Baldwin himself said that it wasn’t a choice between Abueva and Rosario or any other player for that matter. He said that he came up with that decision based on what the team would need for this particular tournament.
Without really saying it, size played a huge factor in his decision.
The only problem is, Abueva has proven time and again — in the PBA and in his first two international tournaments as a Philippine team member last year — that he plays way above his 6-foot-2 frame.
That being said, the ball is again on Baldwin’s side of the floor, and he must be able to get all of his players to play with the heart as big as Abueva’s or be answerable to an entire nation afterwards.
*****
That Gilas Pilipinas is an underdog in the coming Olympic Qualifying Tournament, set July 5-10 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, is a huge understatement.
The Filipinos will be going up against world class teams and world class individual talent in the tournament and that winning the event to book a slot to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games is nothing short of mission improbable.
On paper, it looks more like mission impossible for the Filipinos.
Gilas lost to Turkey by 35 points, and to Italy by 36 in tune-up games in Europe, dramatizing how important height is at this level of play.
The Filipinos will be colliding with France and three NBA veterans led by Tony Parker on July 5 before taking on New Zealand the following day. The mission seems simple enough for Gilas to plod on, and that is win at least one of those games to have a spot in the Final Four.
But is it doable?
Blatche will have to truly dominate offensively, Fajardo will have to be able to control the boards to give Blatche all the opportunity he needs to score, while the guard rotation of Baldwin must be able to dominate their counterparts — Parker included — for the Philippines to have a chance.
Speed and quickness will determine how the Philippines will fare here, and the OQT being a short one, the Filipinos can leave it all on the floor each game just to be able to cut their giant opponents to size.
As a basketball fan, this corner believes that chances of winning are slim for Gilas, but as a Filipino, I will shout myself hoarse just rooting for our team.
It’s that extra boost of energy that could just propel Gilas past these giants next week.
Let’s all be a part of that and we can be proud of whatever the end result would be.
A few days after the announcement of the final roster of Gilas Pilipinas players was made on national television, the issue on the last two cuts, Calvin Abueva in particular, just doesn’t want to die down.
LA Tenorio was the other one left out of the Final 12 and made into a reserve like Abueva, whose exclusion has practically gotten the entire country questioning Baldwin’s wisdom.
Social media was flooded with words of sympathy for Abueva and harsh accusations on Baldwin, who was accused of playing favorites by taking in Tropang TNT rookie Troy Rosario over the hard-fighting Alaska forward.
Baldwin took 14 intrepid men to a trying camp in Greece before playing Turkey and losing horribly and then participating in a four-nation pocket tournament in Italy last week where the Filipinos finished third after beating undermanned China, 72-69.
Before that clash with the Chinese, Baldwin made the announcement on who the final 12 would be, with TV5 airing the event live and making Jimmy Alapag do the announcement by rattling off four names at a time. The shoo-ins led by Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo, Jason Castro and Marc Pingris were the first names called and when Abueva wasn’t there after eight were announced, this corner sensed that something surprising was about to come up.
I actually thought that Alapag would announce Abueva’s name last, just for drama.But never did it cross my mind that Abueva wouldn’t make it.
*****
With Baldwin unreachable after the announcement, the team being in Bologna at that time, reporters were left trying to get assessments from other coaches to ask why the heck was Abueva cut.
Arab News talked to three PBA coaches, one of them just recently axed, and all said that height is the common denominator why Abueva and Tenorio were left out of the team.
The coaches all asked not to be named, since it wasn’t their business naming the National team members to begin with, one of them said.
One asked the nation to not second guess Baldwin, because the Gilas Pilipinas mentor saw what he needed to see in their 18-day European swing and made his judgment based on that.
Baldwin himself said that it wasn’t a choice between Abueva and Rosario or any other player for that matter. He said that he came up with that decision based on what the team would need for this particular tournament.
Without really saying it, size played a huge factor in his decision.
The only problem is, Abueva has proven time and again — in the PBA and in his first two international tournaments as a Philippine team member last year — that he plays way above his 6-foot-2 frame.
That being said, the ball is again on Baldwin’s side of the floor, and he must be able to get all of his players to play with the heart as big as Abueva’s or be answerable to an entire nation afterwards.
*****
That Gilas Pilipinas is an underdog in the coming Olympic Qualifying Tournament, set July 5-10 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, is a huge understatement.
The Filipinos will be going up against world class teams and world class individual talent in the tournament and that winning the event to book a slot to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games is nothing short of mission improbable.
On paper, it looks more like mission impossible for the Filipinos.
Gilas lost to Turkey by 35 points, and to Italy by 36 in tune-up games in Europe, dramatizing how important height is at this level of play.
The Filipinos will be colliding with France and three NBA veterans led by Tony Parker on July 5 before taking on New Zealand the following day. The mission seems simple enough for Gilas to plod on, and that is win at least one of those games to have a spot in the Final Four.
But is it doable?
Blatche will have to truly dominate offensively, Fajardo will have to be able to control the boards to give Blatche all the opportunity he needs to score, while the guard rotation of Baldwin must be able to dominate their counterparts — Parker included — for the Philippines to have a chance.
Speed and quickness will determine how the Philippines will fare here, and the OQT being a short one, the Filipinos can leave it all on the floor each game just to be able to cut their giant opponents to size.
As a basketball fan, this corner believes that chances of winning are slim for Gilas, but as a Filipino, I will shout myself hoarse just rooting for our team.
It’s that extra boost of energy that could just propel Gilas past these giants next week.
Let’s all be a part of that and we can be proud of whatever the end result would be.
