Baldwin expects quality games in Estonia for Gilas

MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin expects two quality games when the national pool leave Monday night for Estonia for its scheduled three-game trip in Northern Europe.

“We’ll get three games up there (Estonia). We’ll have two quality games out there,” said Baldwin, whose team plays Iceland, Estonia and the Netherlands.

The American-Kiwi coach said he has no idea if Iceland will be competitive enough in basketball since traditionally, it has not made a serious impact in Euro basketball.

“Iceland, they’ll probably show up with a surprise team. It’s possible, but traditionally, they haven’t been very strong,” he added.

But Baldwin is expecting tough competitions from Estonia’s national team and Netherlands, aware that the two European countries have enough big men to test the mettle of the two-week-old Gilas side.

Without Gilas mainstays June Mar Fajardo and Marc Pingris manning the front court, Baldwin will be relying on the post presence of 42-year-old slotman Asi Taulava and Sonny Thoss.

Both locals will provide the relief job for naturalized big man Andray Blatche, who is still recovering from prostatitis.

“I think we can be intelligent about how we marshall the energy of the team. The players are very mature and they can tell both with their body language. With theirr communication skills, they know when to back off, so we just have to find balance on that,” explained Baldwin, best remembered for guiding New Zealand to a semifinal finish in the 2002 Fiba World Cup in Indianapolis, USA.

GlobalPort young guard Terrence Romeo is expected to join the trip despite missing the Gilas practice the past few days due to flu. He was discharged Friday from the hospital.

Gilas will still hold a morning practice on Monday at the Moro Lorenzo gym inside the Ateneo campus.

But once the necessary travel documents are released the same day, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas  deputy director for international affairs Butch Antonio said Gilas will push through with its 9 p.m. flight on Monday.

The 22-hour trip from Manila to Tallin, Estonia’s capital city, will include a stopover in Istanbul, Turkey.

Originally, Antonio said Gilas would have held a boot camp first at Turey, but visa problems prevented them from pushing through.