ITS campaign in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament over and done with, Gilas Pilipinas now looks forward to the next task – the Fiba Asia Cup.
Coach Tab Baldwin said the team will take a brief rest after its bid in the OQT came to a close on Thursday morning (Manila time) following the 94-67 loss to Dominican Republic, before regrouping to begin preparation for the region’s biggest cage meet slated in Indonesia from August 17 to 29.
Baldwin said the young Filipino unit will be back in practice in three weeks’ time.
“I would say around July 20th to the 25th, we will be back with the team in the gym,” said the Gilas head coach as the team heads for home after being eliminated in the final qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics.
Quarantine protocols for incoming travellers will have to be determined first according to Baldwin before the entire Gilas squad can plot its next course of action.
Most likely, the team will undergo another bubble training at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna for the Asia Cup, similar to what it did prior to the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers and the OQT.
Calam-bubble all over again
“We don’t know what the protocol measures will be, but it looks like it will be back to the Calamba bubble for us at this point. We’ll probably be looking at around July 20th to begin our preparations,” said Baldwin.
“I think we’re getting varying degrees of quarantines when we get back, some with vaccinations, some without vaccinations. So we’re not sure when we’ll be able to get back and have a bit of a break and normal life and then get back to work.”
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