GILAS PILIPINAS

Tab Baldwin not happy with Korean coach's 'lucky shot' comments

Gilas Pilipinas and South Korea are heading towards a heated rematch to close out their respective campaigns in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

And things aren't going to get any friendlier after some remarks made by Korea head coach Cho Sang-hyun were not well-received by Philippines coach Tab Baldwin.

In their first clash during the third window of the qualifiers held last Wednesday, Gilas guard SJ Belangel drained an off-balanced three-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Filipinos an 81-78 win.

Baldwin had admitted after the game that Korea had taken away the primary option on that set - Carl Tamayo headed towards the basket - but that Dwight Ramos' pass to Belangel and the ensuing shot were examples of smart play and shot-making.

According to Cho, meanwhile, they had scouted the Gilas offensive correctly, calling for and executing switches to take away the Philippines' options.

But he also attributed the winning shot to luck, which didn't quite sit well with Baldwin.

"We actually planned out all the switches for the last two seconds so that there is no space for taking the shot but it was a lucky shot so there was nothing we had to fix," Cho had said in Korean, in a statement that was translated by an interpreter during the post-game press conference.

"But maybe the second thought we could have done was a trap but overall, it was a lucky shot."

Baldwin reacted to his counterpart's comments following Gilas' win over Indonesia on Friday night.

"We’re not going out on the court to lose. And in fact, we’ve already read that the Korean coach felt that we were lucky to win the game and frankly, I think that’s pretty rich of any coach to walk off of a game in which you lose and to claim that it was good luck on the part of  your opponent."

Baldwin added that the comment towards his team would only serve as more motivation before they face again this Sunday.

"So we will make sure that that is highlighted and I’m sure that that will give our players a little bit of extra incentive," the three-time UAAP champion coach said.

"I don’t expect that we would be going out there to make friends on Sunday."

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News