New Gilas Pilipinas Women coach BT Toews to focus on defense ahead of FIBA Pre-OQT

New Gilas Pilipinas Women head coach BT Toews is putting a premium on defense as he looks to develop the national team ahead of the upcoming FIBA Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Only weeks into his stint with the Gilas Women, the Canadian coach has already been impressed by the individual skills of the Filipina players he has worked with.

“I think the players' individual offensive skill is very good. In some ways, it's better than Japanese players' individual skill,” Toews said last Thursday during an informal lunch with members of the press.

However, Toews, who previously coached Japanese team Fujitsu Red Wave, believes the Filipinas can still improve by playing more cohesively on the defensive end.

“But the Japanese, to make a direct comparison, play with the team in every sense. They sprint together, they play defense together, they're all in charge of stopping the ball, they're all on a string,” he said.

With that in mind, Toews said he wants to make defense a major focus of his system.

“I think the biggest or the part where I want to put in my most effort is defensively and just to make sure that we have not just a solid defense—but a defense that is also attacking,” Toews said.

He added that a more staunch defense could help Gilas Women compensate for their lack of size.

“Because we would like to be in transition as much as possible because of our lack of size, and take the best parts of Filipino players and put them in a position to succeed with the talent that they have,” he said.

For now, Toews and the team are working on finding the right mix ahead of the tournament in Mexico.

“I think they're super excited. I think the practices are probably different than they're used to,” Toews said.

“I feel like a lot of players are sore, which is always a good thing. We have a big hole with Sumayah [Sugapong] and [Naomi Panganiban] not being there. That's the two positions, and they happen to be our best shooters as well,” he added.

Despite the absences, Toews believes Gilas Women can still improve their shooting, particularly by being more selective with their three-point attempts.

“So even though we're a smaller team, I feel like the shooting level is still low. It's still low. They're not shy about taking them, but what we really want is efficient three-point shots, not just jacking shots up and hoping we can survive into the fourth quarter,” he said.

“We want to get good shots, and that's been a big success so far.”

Toews also wants the team to develop a better system instead of relying on isolation plays.

“We're trying to get a lot of shots in transition when our defense is not set and we're running stuff where players know where the pass should go,” he said.

“At the same time, a coach can't call every play and a coach can't stop and set things up, so what we really need is to be efficient in a kind of a motion game where it's not just isolation.”

Kacey dela Rosa, Jack Animam, and Vanessa de Jesus headline the Gilas Pilipinas Women squad heading to the FIBA Pre-OQT, which will be held from August 17 to 23 in Mexico.

—JMB, GMA News