Voigt open to coach Gilas

FOSHAN – Angola head coach Will Voigt yesterday disclosed he was interviewed by SBP chairman emeritus and PLDT CEO Manny V. Pangilinan via Skype for the TNT coaching job in the PBA but it went to Mark Dickel instead.

“I didn’t get the job,” said Voigt. “No, they didn’t fly me in for the interview. My contract with Angola is good up to the next Olympics but I can get out of it anytime. I’d love the opportunity to coach Gilas in the future if it’s possible.”

Voigt, 43, said if ever he joins Gilas, Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach John Bryant will likely come along. Bryant is married to a Filipina Allison Agus and said he wants to get his five-year-old Fil-Am son Myles a Philippine passport. “John’s with the Sixers but if he’s free for the summer, he’ll join whatever team I’m coaching,” said Voigt. Bryant was with Voigt when he coached Nigeria at the 2016 Rio Olympics and they’re together again for this year’s FIBA World Cup.

In 2017, Voigt was in Manila for two weeks on coach Ariel Vanguardia’s invitation to work with the PBA team Phoenix. Voigt, who speaks six languages, lived in coach Gregg Popovich’s home when he was a San Antonio Spurs video coordinator. He played soccer at Pomona College in California before deciding to make a career in basketball as a coach. Among the countries where Voigt has coached are Norway, Nigeria and China.

Voigt piloted Angola to an 84-81 overtime win over the Philippines in Group D of the FIBA World Cup here the other day. “It got interesting,” he said. “We controlled the game majority of the way. Credit the Philippines for not giving in. We couldn’t rebound and they kept getting second chances. They made a run to get back in it. It seemed like an away game for us. The crowd support from the Filipino fans was tremendous. But we hung in there and made big shots in overtime.”

Voigt pulled a surprise on Gilas when he started 6-9 Yanick Moreira and 6-10 Joaquim Valdelicio together for the first time in the competition. In previous games against Italy and Serbia, Voigt never sent in the twin towers at the same time. “Before the World Cup, we looked at playing Yanick and Vander together,” he said. “Obviously, they play the same position but we wanted to experiment. They gave us a big advantage in size.”

Valdelicio, known as Vander, finished with 20 points, including 7-of-8 free throws and seven rebounds in 31 minutes. Moreira had 12 points and 15 boards in 34:16 minutes. Three other Angolans scored in double figures. Andray Blatche led the Philippines with 23 points and 12 rebounds. C. J. Perez fired 17 and Robert Bolick, 10.

Gilas came back from a 12-point deficit with 8:21 left in regulation to take the lead on R. R. Pogoy’s triple, 67-65, time down to 3:51. Pogoy was called for a critical turnover on a travel with the score tied, 70-all, 1:02 to go. Angola’s Carlos Morais then connected on a three-point play but Perez hit a triple to knot the count, 73-all. Gilas had possession with five ticks remaining and would’ve won it with a basket but Perez found himself near the center line and heaved a prayer that wasn’t answered as time ran out. In overtime, Gilas built an early lead, 76-73 then Angola ignited a 7-0 blast that settled the issue.

Gilas coach Yeng Guiao said it was a case of immaturity and inexperience that led to the poor execution late in regulation. He said the positives were Gilas outscored Angola in fastbreak points, 18-7 and second chance points, 19-8. But he wondered if Gilas had scored at least two more triples, the outcome would’ve been different.

“We lost because of the breaks,” he said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win. There were two traveling calls that hurt us. We would’ve scored twice if not for those calls. PBA rules on traveling are stricter than FIBA so I wonder about those calls. We expected to lose to Italy and Serbia but there was a big possibility of beating Angola. At least, we’re getting better. We’re getting used to this kind of competition. The World Cup is different from the level of play in Asia or the PBA. The longer we play, the better we get. It’s immersion that’s necessary.”

Lack of training time was evident when Gilas repeatedly lost possession because of miscommunication in the third quarter which Angola finished with a 10-point lead, fueled by 10 turnover points from the Philippines’ eight miscues. “There were limitations and we knew our parameters,” said Guiao. “As a coach, you always want more preparation time. We did what we could under the circumstances.”