TAB Baldwin refused to dwell on speculations and theoreticals even as the fans' call for his return to the Gilas Pilipinas coching job grows louder by the day.
"I don't speculate," Baldwin said. "If that happens, it happens and then that bridge will be something that I will look at if and when that happens."
Baldwin, who is on a scouting trip in Calgary, granted a rare interview with YYC Athletes and candidly answered questions amid the growing clamor for the ouster of Chot Reyes at the helm of the national team.
[See COLUMN: Time to bring Tab Baldwin back]
But the Ateneo mentor said that he's not really waiting for anything from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and he's not losing sleep over losing his spot as the SBP program director and coach of the seniors team.
"I'm not waiting for that and I'm not expecting that. The Gilas program is and it always was going to go through some tough times building up to the World Cup and they are experiencing some tough times," he said.
The Philippines is still reeling from its shock loss to Indonesia in the 31st Southeast Asian Games basketball finals in Hanoi and a ninth-place rank in the 2022 Fiba Asia Cup in Jakarta, raising alarms roughly a year away from the 2023 Fiba World Cup which it would jointly host with Japan and Indonesia.
Baldwin, however, argued that rolling with the punches through the ups and the downs is all part of the job.
"People have got to get behind, they got to love this team with a passion. I'm not part of it now but I love it with a passion. And those players that are in that program, those are the guys that I have great affinity for, I've worked with most of them.
"I would go to the mat for them tomorrow and I believe a lot of them would go to the mat for me and I think that's the kind of relationship that you're supposed to build when you're in the fire of competition and particularly in a national team."
He added: "I've been in a few national teams, so all I can say is I don't speculate about what might or might not happen. But that team and that organization is very precious to me."
Baldwin also briefly touched upon what led to his exit from the Gilas program, calling it "hurtful" and "difficult to handle" yet refused to go into details of what really happened.
"I pride myself on being professional. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be employed by boss MVP and his group and that carries on through Ateneo. I'm not going to look backwards, I'm just going to look forward, continue to do my job, and be thankful and grateful for the opportunities that this organization, this gentleman have given me, and that I've been blessed by the good Lord to have these opportunities."
As for now, Baldwin's full attention is with Ateneo as he tries to bring the Blue Eagles back to the pinnacle after losing to University of the Philippines in UAAP Season 84.
Still, the American-Kiwi mentor is proud to say that he will always root for the Philippine national team no matter what.
"I love the Gilas program. I came to the Philippines to be a part of the Gilas program," he said. "I've been in the Philippines going into my ninth year now and seven of those years, I've been a part of the Gilas program.
"And it really is the core reason that I came to the Philippines and I've enjoyed every moment with them. But you don't always get what you want in life and I consider myself extremely fortunate to be at Ateneo and to have the opportunities I have at Ateneo."
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