Gilas faces quality teams in Jordan

MANILA, Philippines — The learning process continues for youth-laden Gilas Pilipinas as the Nationals compete in the King Abdullah Cup in Jordan from July 25-Aug. 3.

After their gutsy showing in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Clark and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia, the young guns test their mettle against host Jordan as well as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Tunisia in their next assignment.

“It’s the long-term vision of the program that we have to look at here,” said Gilas program director and head coach Tab Baldwin.

“We have to take advantage of every minute of games that we can get. We’ll be going up against quality teams with different styles compared to the ones we faced in the Asia Cup Qualifiers,” he added.

The King Abdullah Cup will also serve as part of the 19-man pool’s buildup for the Asia Cup proper slated next month in Indonesia.

“The pandemic has made it very difficult to plan tune-up games so when the SBP found out about this possibility, we jumped on it,” said Ryan Gregorio, special assistant to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio.

“We have full confidence that Gilas will take this opportunity to learn and jell as a unit,” Gregorio added.

The Gilas cadets are back in their bubble camp in Calamba, Laguna, preparing despite the uncertainty of the Asian hoopfest following the spike in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia.