Batang Gilas coach stresses importance of FIBA U-16 tiff

FOSHAN, CHINA -- On the eve of the Philippine Under-16 team’s match against their Malaysian counterparts in the FIBA U-16 Asian Championships in Foshan, China, head coach Michael Oliver talked about why this is an important tournament for the Filipinos and Philippine basketball.

Oliver, who has been at the helm of the Batang Gilas squad for the past few years, warned of the same old ills that plague the senior national team, building on past wins, and how the entry of Australia and New Zealand has complicated matters for other Asian teams.

“I think like the senior team, our challenge is early preparation,” underscored Oliver. “Our school leagues have different schedules and it is very difficult to decide on a line-up right up to the last minute. We can understand that but that is a chief concern. Some come in a few months after their leagues ended so they aren’t in the best of shape, while others have just seen an end to their season so mentally and emotionally, they aren’t there because they just gave it all for their school teams. Now we have about one practice a week that increases to several a week. We do not get a full team until we get closer to the tournament.”

For this tourney, Oliver and the rest of the coaching staff and team management lined up nine SEABA veterans plus three newcomers. Once more, the team will be led by Kai Sotto, Forthsky Padrigao, Raven Cortez and Terrence Fortea to name a few.

“We said during SEABA, we were playing only teams from Southeast Asia na kaya naman natin,” cautioned the veteran coach. Now it’s against the best from Asia and where players are taller and faster and more athletic. So composition-wise, we want to field a taller, faster and more athletic team with a lot of outside shooting.”

The taller and faster lineup will allow Batang Gilas to run. “That is the theory,” quipped Oliver.

The 2015 Philippine squad defeated China in the tournament of that year. Oliver knows that it’s a one-off win and that the Philippines needs to chalk up wins over top squads with consistency and regularity.

“It is important that we know we can beat the top teams but we have to build on that. We cannot say we beat China then next time around we don’t beat anyone. We have to continue in our progression as a team,” added Oliver.

Regarding this tournament, Oliver said that it is difficult to look too far ahead. “We always hear this but we will just take it one game at a time. That is how it is. If we say big things then people will expect. We are in a tough bracket with Australia so we will just do our best.”

And speaking of the Oceania teams such as Australia and New Zealand, Oliver agrees they made it tougher for everyone else to qualify: “Before the West Asian teams made it harder because the traditional challengers to the Asian championship were us, Japan, China, and South Korea. Now there are more teams. As for Australia and New Zealand which produces NBA talent, they will set the tone for the tournament. And no team will be complacent. This is tournament that is important because it is these players who will move up to our other national teams.”