Grieving Blatche, Intal stay committed to Gilas

MANILA, Philippines -- Unknown to many, Gilas naturalized player Andray Blatche and Jc Intal practiced with grieving hearts on Wednesday night. 

Blatche and Intal learned the death of a close member of their respectively families on Wednesday at the start of a grueling four back-to-back practices in their last two days in the country before flying to Taiwan to compete in the annual William Jones Cup. 

The usually accommodating Blatche, who is mourning the death of his uncle Steve, begged off from media interviews and immediately walked away from the gym.  

"Anybody who lost a close relative, and his uncle is close to him (Blatche), knows how tough it is," Gilas coach Tab Baldwin told Philstar.com right after their night session.  

Blatche tried to channel his emotions and feed off the energy from the return of Marc Pingris and the arrival of Los Angeles Lakers' Fil-Am guard Jordan Clarkson as he joined the back-to-back practice sessions on Wednesday. 

"He was hurting today. He was down. Sometimes I think being around your brothers and being around the game you love is the best place to be and feel like that but he wasn't 100 percent focused," Baldwin said.

Despite playing with a heavy heart, Blatche put in the effort as he was seen crashing the board and attacking the basket during their five-on-five scrimmage while Clarkson watched from the sidelines taking down notes on the team's plays.  

"I think he (Blatche) did really well given the circumstances," Baldwin said.  "And we also had Jc Intal, whose father-in-law died today."

There were no signs that Intal's mind was elsewhere during the scrimmage as the Barako Bull wingman still played with intensity. 

"After practice (this morning), I had to rush to be with my wife Bianca kasi 'yung mga siblings niya pauwi pa lang tonight (Wednesday night).  But I had to practice tonight kasi, 'yun nga, I'm committed to the (national) team but after this, I'll go straight to the wake dahil ililibing na agad bukas. Thank God na sa Friday pa kami aalis so I can be there for her and the family," Intal said.  

The national team is scheduled to have another back-to-back practice sessions on Thursday before leaving for the Jones Cup, the second of the three tournaments they are going to play in to gauge their preparation for the FIBA Asia Men's Championship next month in China. 

Baldwin praised Blatche and Intal's commitment to the national team despite having an excuse not to show up. 

"You know, there's a lot of people in this country that should be looking through themselves.  When they see the commitment of these guys coming to practice when close relative dies is, for me, it's humbling. And for other people, it should be inspirational and serve as motivation to see this love and sacrifice these guys make," Baldwin said.