Gilas to skip Cebu camp for now

IF AND WHEN the country’s national basketball team will hold a training camp in preparation for the Fiba Olympic qualifying tournaments this July, Cebu will be right on top of Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin’s list.

For now, though, the possibility remains remote given the limited amount of time the team has before aforementioned competition kicks off.

“I don’t know if we’ll have the time this year. It’s a very tight time frame and we need to get over to Europe, get some games in. So, I don’t know how much time that will leave us to have a camp. But if ever we do, I think Cebu will be at the top of the list because of the success that we had and the hosting of the people here was memorable,” said Baldwin in a conversation with Cebu’s sports scribes on Tuesday afternoon at the Cebu Country Club.

Baldwin has fond memories of the team’s week-long camp last year in Lapu-Lapu City, where he felt the team bonded the most, paving the way for them to eventually win the silver medal in the Fiba Asia Men’s Championship in China.

“It was beneficial for sure. We started out with training that was supposed to be in isolation and ended up playing in front of thousands of people. It wasn’t just basketball. It was a chance for them to relate as people and not just as players.”

With the Olympic qualifying tournament bearing down on the Gilas, Baldwin did divulge that they are looking at having their training camp in Europe where he hopes to go up against some topnotch teams before coming back to the Philippines and rounding off their preparation with some more tune-up games.

“We got some plans in place. We’re still awaiting confirmation on those so we’re not revealing where we’re going and who we’re going to be playing. We’re looking to go to Europe, in a camp environment for 7-10 days and get some games while we’re there.”