Why Nenad Vucinic resigned from his post with Gilas Pilipinas

MANILA, Philippines — Nenad Vucinic, after a short stint with Gilas Pilipinas, is moving on from the national team program as the embattled Nationals prepare for the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers fourth window at the end of the month.

Only joining the team earlier this year, Vucinic's experience with Gilas was short and sweet. In the recent episode of One Sports' The Game, the former New Zealand Tall Blacks head coach explained his decision to leave.

"Initially, when I came to work with Gilas, I was invited by my good friend and mentor Tab Baldwin, and since he is not part of the program anymore, I really wanted to leave at that time," Vucinic explained.

"But I was convinced by him and also by incoming director Chot Reyes and all the other people in the organization to stay. I didn't regret staying," he continued.

Vucinic came into the program supposedly as a consultant for Baldwin, but the latter resigned from his post as Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) not long after Vucinic's entry.

Though he needed convincing to stay, Vucinic said that there were no regrets on his end for staying in the next couple of months where he also experienced getting to be the head coach during the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.

"It was a great experience, we worked well together," Vucinic said of his relationship with Reyes and the SBP.

"But now you know, with the new season sort of coming up, you know I reconsidered and thought that I may look for some other options," he added.

Vucinic, whose resignation was accepted by the SBP earlier this week, also said that there were no hard feelings between him and the Gilas Pilipinas program.

"I got nothing but really great things to say about the people, the program, that I came... I tried to help as much as I could but for me I have to take a different path now," he said.

Gilas Pilipinas thus heads into its first competition of the year without Vucinic on staff when they face Lebanon and Saudi Arabia on August 25 and 29, respectively.