Gilas Pilipinas Basketball

Gilas Pilipinas’ 83-76 loss against Serbia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament did not go unnoticed in the international scene as the Philippines put up a great challenge against a basketball powerhouse.

In the aftermath of such competitive game, Filipino fans thought: what if Dwight Ramos played for Gilas against Serbia?

Head coach Tab Baldwin responded to the question himself in the post-game presser, saying the wing man would have definitely impacted the match, although a change in result isn’t necessarily a guarantee.

“It would be a different game, but it does not guarantee a different outcome,” Baldwin said. “Certainly to have his athleticism and strength defensively and his composure and skill offensively would have given us more weapons but that doesn’t mean that that would have necessarily changed the outcome.”

The mentor also cited Ramos’ “calming influence” in the game, as he has been consistently the national team’s stabilizer in pressure-packed moments.

“I think that the way would have been played from our end of the floor might have been different. Dwight has that calming infleunce on his teammates,” the tactician mentioned.

“He can impose himself a little bit more easily because of his physicality and elite basketball but again, you add any player, you add (Vasilije) Micic or (Nikola) Kalinic, the game would have been different as well but that wouldn’t guarantee a different outcome.”

William Navarro started in the place of Ramos, who had been hurt from a groin injury, while Justine Baltazar also saw action at small forward.

Serbia, on the other hand, only had nine players available in the match, owing to injuries as well.

Baldwin also bared Ramos will not be available against the Dominican Republic, not wanting to further aggravate the situation as they look to have him ready for the FIBA Asia Cup in August.

“I don’t think Dwight’s gonna be ready tomorrow. It’s a muscle strain. We didn’t think it was serious at the beginning; it just hasn’t responded at all. And actually, after the flight it was worse. It’s just one of those things you never know with groin muscles how they’ll respond,” Baldwin emphasized.

“We don’t want to take the chance for that recurring. We have a big tournament coming up in August and we need him fully fit and back to training in a few weeks. He can’t play right now and we certainly don’t want to rush him.”

Written by Levi Verora Jr.
Photos from FIBA