Gilas dead set on making it to Rio Olympics

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas lent some time with the Cebuano sportswriters shortly after lunch on Tuesday and stressed that every member of the team is committed to accomplish the mission of getting to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year.

“Every single person’s goal is Rio. It’s not about going there to play well. It’s going there to bring home the hardware,” said Gilas coach Tab Baldwin as quoted by TV5’s Carlo Pamintuan on his Twitter account.

“Our goal is to win every single game out there. We’ll have all the information we need about all the teams out there,” Baldwin also said.

Each member of the Gilas team, except Andray Blatche and Sonny Thoss, attended the conference with the Cebuano scribes held in between two practice sessions at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.

Gilas pitched the Cebu camp for the Nationals to be detached from their families and focused in the final week of preparation for the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China slated Sept. 23-Oct. 3.

“Two-a-day practices in Manila means sitting inside the car maybe four hours. Cebu takes that problem away from us,” Baldwin cited as another reason for their Cebu jaunt.

 In Cebu, the Nationals are billeted at the Crown Regency Suites and Residences, which is five minutes away from the Hoops Dome.

In their third day of Cebu stay on Wednesday, the Nationals undergo weight training in the morning in Plantation Bay then troops back to the Hoops Dome for their evening practice.

Their morning practice on Tuesday was twice delayed shortly by the collapse of the hoop on thunderous jams by Blatche and Calvin Abueva.

Apparently, Blatche spent much energy in the morning session that he missed the press conference. He’s still in the process of losing extra poundage to be in best shape possible in time for the Asian joust.

From Wednesday, the Nationals still have four practice days before leaving for Changsha on Monday. They return to Manila from Cebu Friday night, take a break Saturday and hold their final practice session at the Meralco Gym Sunday.

Gilas Pilipinas plays Palestine on September 23, Hong Kong the next day and Kuwait on the 25th in Group B competition on the preliminary round of the FIBA Asia.

For ageless warrior Asi Taulava, the current Gilas team has one important difference from the previous Gilas groups.

“The big difference is that coach Tab had most of us in Day One. When we trusted the system, it started to work for us,” said Taulava, among the late additions to Gilas 1 that finished fourth behind China, Jordan and South Korea in 2011 in Wuhan.

Terrence Romeo, meanwhile, gave a testimony on several things he’s learning from Baldwin.

“Naglaro ako sa PBA na marami akong hindi alam. Maraming hindi naituro sa akin. Ngayon unti-unti kong nalalaman (I had still many things to learn when I joined the PBA. I’m learning it little by little),” said Romeo, among the Cebuanos in Gilas along with Dondon Hontiveros and Sonny Thoss.

Baldwin commended his players for their dedication.

“We should never underestimate the sacrifice these guys are making. The guys are not here because their teams allowed them. They’re here because they are passionate for Gilas,” said Baldwin.