WILL Voigt feels fortunate that somehow, he'll get a chance to coach the future of Philippine basketball.
Working as an assistant for Charles Tiu in Mighty Sports for the 2020 Dubai International Basketball Tournament, the Angola coach gets a first-hand view of the promising talent the country has to offer.
And that bodes well for him as Voigt has previously thrown his name as a potential mentor for Gilas Pilipinas in the future.
"I’d love to be involved. That’d be a wonderful opportunity," he said.
"I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the Philippines. My first time here was in 2009 and everytime I come here, I’m just being struck by the passion of the Filipinos in basketball."
With Mighty, Voigt gets a chance to handle players like Thirdy Ravena, Isaac Go, Dave Ildefonso, and brothers Juan and Javi Gomez de Liano, young blood who were already shortlisted in the 24-man pool for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers this February.
Dreaming of Gilas, however, is just looking a little too far ahead, if Voigt will be asked as his main focus is on helping Mighty compete in the UAE tilt.
"Right now, my focus is with Mighty Sports," he said, with the Philippine club bracing for the UAE National Team for its first assignment on Thursday.
"I think I’ve made it clear that I love basketball here and the situation here, but the federation, they know what they’re doing and they will put the right people in the right place. Obviously, Tab Baldwin is a big part of that, too, so if that’s me down the road, that’s great to welcome the opportunity."
"But for right now, my main focus is Mighty Sports in this tournament."
It's quite an interesting situation for Voigt, who is still the head coach of the Angolan national team.
He clarified, though, that the flexibility of his situation allows him to consider handling other nations, which explains his continued interest in the Gilas job.
"Right now, we don’t have anything in Angola until the Olympic Qualifying Tournament which is coming up," he said. "Contractually, I’m in a situation with some flexibility. That would not preclude me from being able to coach here if the opportunity presents itself."
"Down the road, if there’s opportunity with Gilas, that would be great."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
