FORMER Gilas Pilipinas mentors Tab Baldwin and Chot Reyes were left impressed with the new-look Team Pilipinas after it scored a 92-81 victory over Qatar on Monday in the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
The two coaches were one of the select 50 VIPs who were in attendance for the closed-door game at Smart Araneta Coliseum and for them, it's nice to see some of the top players in the country wearing the national tri-colors.
"You know, these are some of the best players of our country. They deserve the opportunity to represent the team and represent the country," said Baldwin, who now calls the shots for Ateneo in the UAAP.
"Yeng's got them and he's putting them together and developing chemistry. He's working hard with the time that he's got and it's never an exact science when you're a national coach to select the team."
Baldwin and Reyes had to witness an atrocious first half from the home side, with the Philippines shooting 1-of-15 from downtown as Qatar took an early 17-point lead.
But it was a different story after the break as the Philippines outscored the visitors, 28-12 in the third frame and sustained its form until the final buzzer to take the 11-point victory.
"Great team effort in the second half, with Japeth Aguilar dominating their bigs. But I thought Scottie Thompson gave us a lot of extra possessions and coach Yeng’s no point guard combo to start the third quarter (playing) with a lot of pressure defense was the key," said Reyes, lauding the efforts of the Ginebra pair on his Twitter account.
Baldwin added: "They came out in the second half, set the tempo of the game, put pressure on Qatar, and it always should have been that way. And when they did that, you saw the turnaround of the score pretty quick."
With the September window now over, Baldwin expects nothing but the best for Team Pilipinas moving forward, batting for everyone's support as the team prepares for the next series of games on November 30 against Kazakhstan and on December 3 against Iran, both at home at Mall of Asia Arena.
"I just think it's not our job to question them but support them and Yeng is in that role. It can be a thankless job at times and I think it's our job to support them. He's chosen his group of guys and we should all get behind them," the Kiwi-American mentor said.
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