Gilas in worthwhile Cebu sojourn

CEBU, Philippines -  Mold a team. Sacrifice. And do it all for the country. Are these what people do when they go to Cebu? Not quite, right? But for this band of athletes and coaches, it’s a Cebu sojourn that will be different from the usual.

While visitors troop to Cebu for its beaches, fun and food, Gilas Pilipinas 3.0, the country's men’s national basketball team, is doing something else. They’re here in Cebu to mold the team to become a stronger unit as they enter the final phase of their preparation for the FIBA Asia Championships in China later in the month.

This was the main message relayed by national coach Coach Tab Baldwin in a get together with the Cebu sports media yesterday. “The desire of the coaching staff is to mold this team to be as strong a team as possible,” Baldwin explained. “We feel we can achieve this by setting up camp here in Cebu,” he added.

The Gilas Pilipinas team with its coaching staff and managers arrived on Monday to go undergo a training camp that Baldwin said would demand hard work mentally and physically, and a lot of sacrifice. This is the final phase of their preparation before they clash with the best of Asia in China.

The camp includes twice-a-day practice sessions, team building activities and film viewing, thus the need for the team to be together as a unit all week. With the team together as a unit, the Cebu camp takes away the distractions and obstacles that would usually hamper them in Metro Manila.

When asked the biggest difference between a camp in Cebu and Manila, Baldwin quickly replied, “The traffic.” “If we practice twice a day in Manila, the rest of the day is spent on the road in traffic,” Baldwin said.

On the other hand, the Cebu camp’s training venue is very near the team hotel, and so the rest of the day is spent resting. Baldwin also expressed his gratitude for the support of the locals saying that the local staff have made their jobs easier in terms of logistics, transportation, accommodations and food.

The spirit of sacrifice was also discussed with Baldwin saying that for these players, it’s a grind to be away from their families and not the glamorous ways with which the national team is at times associated.

“These players are here because they have a passion for Gilas,” he stressed. “And also making the sacrifice for the country are the families of these players,” he stressed.

For his part, Cebuano Dondon Hontiveros said that as the more seasoned veterans of the team, he and Asi Taulava provide the guidance for the younger players. “They’re attentive and open to learning,” the Cebuano hotshot said. He also recalled how he was asking himself if he could still perform at a high level, being one of the oldest on the team. “But after seeing the efforts of Asi and Jimmy (Alapag) at practice, this made me work harder,” he said.   Taulava then added that the team has gotten along better and it has been more like a family with a brotherly relationship (everyone calls him “Kuya.”) “We have all made the sacrifice to work hard and push one another; but there’s still a lot of work ahead,” Taulava said.

After the Estonia, Jones Cup and MVP Cup experiences, Taulava said that the team is making progress after all the practices and games. An interesting sidelight to the get together was when Terence Romeo spoke fluent Bisaya with the sports media. He said that his father is from Cebu while his mother is from Surigao. And since they speak Bisaya at home, he has learned how to speak basic Bisaya.

The FIBA Asia Championships will be held in Changsa, China from September 23 to October 3. Gilas Pilipinas opens its campaign on the 23rd against Palestine. The team is grouped with Hong Kong, Kuwait and Palestine in Group B. The top three teams after the single round robin will then move on to the next phase where they will be grouped with the top three teams of Group A which is composed of pre-tournament favourite Iran, Japan, Malaysia and India.  (FREEMAN)