Phl Gilas makes up for J Cup no-show

MANILA, Philippines - Chinese Taipei’s withdrawal of Jones Cup invitation to Gilas Pilipinas is turning out to be a blessing in disguise.

Gilas Pilipinas will miss eight to nine competitive games in the Jones Cup but will make up for it with a clinic under an Asian basketball authority on top of six matches in a New Zealand tour on July 9-19.

Tab Baldwin, the American coach that made quite a stir in the last FIBA Asia Championship, beating Iran in the quarterfinals, crushing the Philippines in the semifinals and narrowly losing to China in the finale, is conducting a five-day clinic for the Filipinos in Napier, New Zealand on July 10-14.

The Filipino cagers are thrilled and are looking forward to the clinic, expecting to learn valuable lessons from Baldwin who had been in Asian basketball circle for about four years. Baldwin steered Jordan to a breakthrough second-place finish in the Wuhan Asian joust in 2011.

A year earlier, the Jacksonville, Florida native piloted the Lebanese national team to the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup title romp.

He has since returned to New Zealand, his base since the 90s and from which he was made an honorary officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his great achievement engineering the Tall Blacks’ semifinal finish in the 2002 World Championship in Indianapolis.

Having made the rounds of Asian basketball in 2010 and 2011 with great success, the 55-year-old coach can well dissect the games of the Asian powers for Gilas Pilipinas.

Once a tormentor, Baldwin is now an ally.

Gilas Pilipinas and the Baldwin-mentored Jordan team split their two meetings in Wuhan, but the latter won the more important match.

With Baldwin making the right adjustments, the Jordanians frustrated the Filipinos, 75-61, to advance to the finals versus the Chinese.

While in Napier, Gilas Pilipinas plays Baldwin’s Napier team to kick off the Filipinos’ six-game New Zealand series to be culminated by a match with the New Zealand national team in Auckland on July 18.

Gilas coach Chot Reyes hopes to firm up their game in the New Zealand trip ending with just two weeks before the start of the 27th FIBA Asia Championship at the MOA Arena in Pasay and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

The New Zealand team is expected to push Gilas Pilipinas to the limit as the Kiwis are also bracing up for their own continental eliminator for the 2014 world championship in Spain.

The Kiwis have been to two Olympics and three world championships, and have won the gold medal in the Oceania championships thrice in 1999, 2001 and 2009.

The Philippine team, meanwhile, has been to seven Olympics and four world championships, but not since the 1978 world meet where the Filipinos competed as the host team.