GILAS Pilipinas will be holding daily practices as the first window of the Fiba Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers draws near.
“Practices will be everyday,” said Gilas project director Tab Baldwin. “We have a two-week window. Everybody was aware.”
After convening for the first time on Monday, the Gilas 24-man pool only has 13 days to prepare for games against Thailand on Feb. 20 and Indonesia on Feb. 23 in the first window of the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) selected a mix of professional, amateur, and collegiate standouts for the two matches against Southeast Asian neighbors.
Nineteen out of the 24 members of the pool were present on the first day, but it was immediately down to 22 after Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger begged off for varying reasons.
Previous Gilas teams had months to prepare for tournaments. This Gilas team doesn’t have that same luxury.
Aside from making the most of the short buildup, Baldwin said he and the coaching staff believes the daily practices will cement the team's commitment and help build a culture of excellence in the team.
“We don’t have the luxury of Gilas teams in the past when you’ll have summer tournaments to go away to Spain, Turkey, or wherever," he said. "We replaced that with this daily commitment to building a team and building a system and building a culture.”
“We believe in commitment to the cause, dedicating yourself to one another, and building a culture that you can only do with consistent training and time together,” he added.
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