Appreciative of players’ sacrifices, Guiao determined to forge ahead
WHILE admitting that being a national team coach is no easy task, Yeng Guiao said he is determined to continue as Team Pilipinas coach, especially after the “special bond” he has created with the players and seeing how his wards went all out for flag and country.
Capped what has been a very busy month for him at the helm of the country’s basketball squad with a gutsy come-frombehind 91-82 win over Qatar in their final game of the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Monday behind closed doors at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, NLEX Road Warriors coach Guiao said if asked to continue handling the nationals he would willingly accept it.
“I’ll wait for the formal announcement of SBP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) first, if they want me to continue coaching the team,” said Mr. Guiao in the postgame press conference following their victory over Qatar.
Mr. Guiao said forging ahead as national team coach should be a no-brainer decision for him, more so after seeing how the players sacrificed a lot and how they collectively bonded.
“There has been a bond that developed among us, [as coach] I’ve seen them get hurt in certain plays and sacrifice time away from their loved ones to play for the national team. How can you say ‘No’ when asked to coach after that? How can you turn your back on that?” said Mr. Guiao.
Mr. Guiao was first asked to coach the Philippine Basketball Association-backed national team that saw action in the Asian Games in Indonesia in August and led it to a fifth-place finish despite limited time to prepare.
He was then handed the reins for Team Pilipinas in the World Cup qualifiers in place of Chot Reyes, who was suspended by world basketball governing body FIBA for one game over the brawl with Australia in July, and left local basketball officials and fans impressed with how he handled the squad given the short time to transition from the Asian Games.
Mr. Guiao said that if fortunate enough to be asked to coach anew the national team, he will try his best to bring the Philippines back to the World Cup.
“The next window is Nov. 30 and Dec. 3 then after that February, and after that the World Cup. It’s just delivering the objective which is to make to the World Cup. So we’ll see,” he said.
After four windows of the qualifiers, the Philippines (5-3) sits at third place in the merged Group F behind Australia (7-1) and Iran (6-2).
Japan (4-4) is fourth followed by Kazakhstan (3-5) and Qatar (2-6).
The top three teams from the two groupings at the end of the second round automatically earn a spot in the 2019 World Cup in China.
PBA RETURNS
Meanwhile, the PBA makes its return today after a two-week break to give way to the nationals’ campaign in the World Cup Qualifiers with a double-header set at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Still-undefeated Blackwater Elite (2-0) take on winless Northport Batang Pier (0-4) at 4:30 p.m. while the Phoenix Fuel Masters (3-1) collide with the Meralco Bolts (1-2) at 7 p.m.