Gilas to begin preparation for Belgrade OQT on Tuesday

After sweeping the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, Gilas Pilipinas will just take a one-day break before getting back to the grind.

According to head coach Tab Baldwin, the nationals will have a breather on Monday then quickly return to practice on Tuesday in preparation for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament slated late June in Belgrade, Serbia.

Before they leave, meanwhile, the Filipinos are set to face China in a tune-up game as the latter is also looking to stay in the country before flying to Serbia.

"Our plans before that are to have some practices here in the Philippines before we fly out and we’re very hopeful that we might get a practice game against China, who’s also staying here before they go to Canada for more preparations for themselves," Baldwin said.

"We still have a lot of work to do but these young men have earned a day off so they get Monday off but Tuesday we’ll be back at work."

Baldwin said they have yet to decide who will compose the 12-man lineup for the Belgrade showpiece but revealed that two players will have to be cut from the roster as the OQT does not allow lineup changes like in the Clark Qualifiers.

"I think we’ll be taking either 12 or 13 players but we haven’t made a final decision on that yet but obviously we’re only allowed to play 12, we can’t do what we did here and change the roster," he said.

Gilas will face host Serbia on June 30 and the Dominican Republic on July 1 with the top two teams advancing to the playoffs on July 3.