IT'S World Cup or bust for coach Yeng Guiao.
The fiery mentor looks set to be officially put in charge of the national team after taking on the assignment in the Asian Games and the second window of the Fiba World Cup qualifying, and says he is ready for the next step.
"Siguro I'll just wait for the formal announcement of SBP if they would want me to continue coaching. Actually ang sabi ko lang naman, kung ibibigay nila sa akin dahil maganda na ang samahan namin, formally tatanggapin ko naman. Pero ang sinasabi ko rin, pag hindi tayo nakarating ng World Cup, at hindi ko nadala sa World Cup, bahala na kayo sa buhay niyo. I will walk away, hindi ko pala kaya," he said.
Guiao said he won't cling on to the job if he doesn't see himself capable of getting it done, and that if he fails to meet the goals, it's better off for him to walk away.
"Bakit ba tayo andito? Dahil gusto nating makarating sa World Cup. So pag hindi tayo nakarating sa World Cup, ikaw ang coach, mag-resign ka. Meron siguro dyan na may kaya. Ganoon ang pag-iisip ko. Kung makarating tayo sa World Cup, eh di mag-usap ulit tayo," he said.
After the September window of the Asian qualifiers, the Philippines is on pace to take one of the seven slots allocated for the continent as it stands with a 5-3 card, third place in Group F.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan has several times expressed his satisfaction of Guiao's work, being the uniting force for the national team after the brawl in the game against Australia in July, repeating himself once more after Team Pilipinas battled back from an early 17-point deficit to score A 92-81 win over Qatar on Monday at a closed-door Smart Araneta Coliseum.
"Pag nadala namin sa World Cup, hindi ko naman ika-kapit tuko ito eh. It's really a milestone. It's really just delivering the objective at kung ano yung purpose nito," he said.
Guiao says he is determined to see it through, given the players’ sacrifices.
"Hindi ko naman kakapitan itong position na ito kung di ko kaya ito. Nami-miss ko itong mga batang ito. After a while, there's a bond that develops because nakita mo napuputukan sa kilay, nakita mo dumudugo ang ilong, nakita mo nawawalan ng ngipin, nakita mo nagtitiis sila dahil buntis ang asawa nila, pero nandito sila. Eh ano ba naman 'yung hirap ko, 'di ba? Wala yun. Tapos iiwanan mo, tapos tatanggihan mo? Anong klaseng samahan 'yan, anong klaseng tao ka," he said.
"Kaya ang sabi ko, magsama-sama tayo, subukan natin kung saan tayo makarating. Kung di tayo makarating, maghiwa-hiwalay tayo. Bahala na yung SBP kung ano gusto nilang gawin. Ganoon lang ka-simple."
Guiao ended: "Wala naman kaming pinag-usapang pera dito eh. Wala naman kaming pinag-usapang incentive dito eh. Basta tinuro lang kami, naglaro na kami, nag-coach na kami. Wala namang ipinangako sa amin dito. Gusto lang namin mag-silbi."
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