Hindi na alintana ni Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin ang naging resulta ng katatapos na Olympic Qualifying Tournament draw kung saan ilan sa mga malalakas na koponan ang napunta sa Manila qualifier.
Bumagsak sa Group B ang Pilipinas kasama ang New Zealand at France habang nasa Group A naman ng Manila qualifier ang Senegal, Turkey, at Canada.
Matapos ang single round schedule, ang top two teams lamang ng bawat grupo ang papasok sa crossover semifinals na may one-game knockout format.
Sa kabila nito ay hindi na nagulat si Baldwin sa klase ng koponan na napunta sa kanilang grupo.
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“No matter what the draw had been we would’ve gotten the same reaction. We have to get to work and prepare the games that we’re going to play.
We just have to look at every game that we have to win. We have France and New Zealand and we have to prepare to beat those teams,” ani Baldwin.
Ayon kay Baldwin,gagawin nila ang tamang paghahanda para mabigyan ng magandang laban ang mga koponan na kanilang makakasgupa sa OQT mula July 4-10 sa MOA Arena.
Importante sa ngayon parav kay Baldwin ay ang maitatak sa isipan ng kaniyang magiging player na mayroon silang tsansa na manalo kahit na sinasabing world class teams ang kanilang makakasagupa sa July OQT.
“They’re going to be extremely tough. There’s no lack of motivation these games are not for fun. It’s for a berth in the Olympics and only one team is going to go. Every loose ball will be hotly contested. Every possession is going to be a dog fight,” ani Baldwin. (DENNIS PRINCIPE)
