Baldwin: We just didn’t shoot well

CHANGSHA CITY, China—Tab Baldwin finally got in the mood to talk after losing in the gold-medal match of the Fiba Asia Championship on Saturday night, praising his Gilas Pilipinas crew for laying it all on the floor “for the right reasons.”

After initially declining to be interviewed after the 78-67 setback at the hands of mighty China, Baldwin acceded to the INQUIRER’s request and showed the poignant side of the man who came just a tad short to taking the Philippines back to the Olympics.

“They fought extremely hard, they fought for the country; they didn’t fight for me,” Baldwin said after dismissing his boys from the hushed Philippine locker room, a few steps away from the boisterous Chinese dugout.

“They [Filipinos] fought for themselves, they fought for their families and they fought for the right reasons.”

Baldwin cited one reason why the Philippines failed to turn the tide in its favor during the title match—just the second between the two nations, counting the 1990 debacle in Beijing of an all-pro team coached by the legendary Robert Jaworski.

“We just didn’t shoot the ball well,” Baldwin explained. “We searched all around and didn’t find a solution. We never got our offense on track. We didn’t hit the shots that were open.

“You have to give China credit. They’re good, they’re really good.”

And did size matter in the championship match?

“It’s an advantage, but it’s not the deciding factor,” he said. “You still have to execute [and make the shots]. They did it, and we didn’t.”

Baldwin admitted to having grown fond of his intrepid crew, a mix of role players and superstars. He went to war with two of the oldest men in the tournament who earned slots in the team because of the absence of certain shoo-ins from the PBA.

“They’re my team and they’re a great group of people,” he said. “They’re an outstanding group of guys to work with, certainly committed to the task at hand. They certainly have all my respect, and I hope, the respect of our fans back home.”

Losing in the gold-medal match meant that the Philippines didn’t qualify automatically to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, set next year in Brazil.

But the Philippines can still get to the Games, for the first time in 43 years, if it hurdles a tougher qualifying tournament a month before the Olympics.

And having been so attached to the players who he said gave it their all for the last two months, Baldwin thinks that the next shot is so far away.

“It’s 10 months away, and that’s a hell of a time for me to be away from these guys,” he said.