TAB BALDWIN’S reported appointment as the next head coach of Gilas Pilipinas is drawing support from some of the best minds in local basketball, as well as the country’s biggest organization of coaches.
Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP) President Chito Narvasa and former national mentors Tim Cone and Joe Lipa are supporting Baldwin for the Gilas program.
A sports web site in New Zealand reported the other day that Baldwin has accepted the Gilas job in favor of his task as coach of the Tall Blacks in the nation’s National Basketball League.
But the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has yet to confirm Baldwin’s appointment.
SBP President Manuel V. Pangilinan neither confirmed nor denied Baldwin’s appointment in an online interview, but said he is the “prime candidate” for the position.
“I’m waiting for Pato [Patrick Gregorio] and Executive Director Sonny Barrios to return from Geneva so we can formalize the appointment of the new Gilas coach,” Pangilinan said in the article. Gregorio is the SBP secretary-general and current chairman of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Gregorio and Barrios led an SBP team that attended the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Basketball World Cup Bid Workshop. The Philippines is one of six nations hoping to host the 2019 World Cup.
Barrios was also mum on the Baldwin issue.
But for the two former national team coaches, Baldwin is a good choice.
“No problem with us. Philippine team ‘yan,” Narvasa told the BusinessMirror on Thursday. “For the Philippine team, yes [we will support him].”
In an interview with www.InterAksyon.com,
“I really don’t know coach Baldwin but I wish him the best so that he can make the country proud,” said Cone, who handled the 1998 Centennial Team that clinched the bronze medal in the Bangkok Asian Games.
“And if he ever needs something from me, I’m happy to help in any way I can,” the two-time PBA grand-slam mentor added.
“Authorities for sure have considered all factors they think are relevant,” said Lipa, who coached an all-amateur team to a bronze medal in the Seoul 1986 Asian Games.
“Though we might not agree with it, but it’s their choice and [final]. Let us just wish them good luck and hope for the best for Philippine basketball,” Lipa added.
The last foreign coach to handle the national men’s team was Serbian Rajko Toroman, who handled the Gilas program in 2009.