Gilas Pilipinas Basketball

Gilas Pilipinas beat Indonesia, 76-51 on Friday in the on-going 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers third window in Pampanga, Philippines.

One of the players who shined in the game was the debuting Francis “LeBron” Lopez, an 18-year-old prospect from the Ateneo high school basketball program.

In his first official game for the men’s seniors team, Lopez impressed right from the start, when he soared for a stick-back lay-up off a teammate’s miss.

The 6-foot-5 wing man would finish with eight points, five rebounds, and a plus-minus of +14.

After the game, Lopez drew praise from Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin for the maturity he displayed on the floor and for being very ready when his name was called.

“I think LeBron deserves to be there although he’s very young. He’s going to make mistakes but I thought the most impressive thing about LeBron tonight is I could see there was excitement there but he really made an effort to be composed and to play composed and do the little things right at both ends of the floor,” Baldwin straightforwardly said. “That’s a great sign for a young player.”

Lopez became the youngest member of a senior men’s national team since 1989 when Jun Limpot suited up for an international tournament.

The veteran tactician added in spite of his young age, Lopez, or other teenager for that matter who fits the mold of what the Gilas roster is looking for, deserves a call-up.

“We are not trying to put any particular type of genre on any individual on the team. We are trying to put players that we believe have a future and will help Gilas stand up to international competition,” Baldwin said.

“LeBron is there because we believe he belongs there and we believe in his future. What he did tonight is an example of a good start for him, but only a drop in the bucket of what we expect from him in the future.”

Aside from Lopez, NBA prospect Kai Sotto is only 19 years old, while Geo Chiu and Carl Tamayo are both only 20.

Watch Gilas Pilipinas vs Indonesia Highlights – June 18

Baldwin spoke highly of Lopez’s willingness to sacrifice individual tendencies and be part of a cohesive system instead.

Given his young age, it is expected and understandable of Lopez committed such rookie mistakes, and yet Baldwin saw a budding system player for the squad.

“We all know LeBron could be a highlight film if he just goes out there and runs around wild and does crazy stuff but I thought his discipline in particular, he went out there and he played with great composure. He was productive,” the American-New Zealander mentor stressed.

“We have a tendency sometimes here to get carried away with the spectacular on the basketball floor, and the only thing that we want to be spectacular with in our program is the results and the performances and with LeBron buying in the way he is buying in, we may sacrifice some of the highlights, but I think eventually, we will have a tremendous basketball player in our hands. I think that’s what we all want really, at the end of the day.”

The Philippines will wrap up its campaign against Korea on Sunday, before heading to Serbia for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Written by Levi Verora Jr.

Photos from FIBA