Gilas looking to reconvene in Calamba bubble to prep for FIBA Asia Cup

Gilas Pilipinas looks to set up camp anew at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna in order to hit the ground running for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup this August.

Head coach Tab Baldwin bared that they are looking to return to bubble training somewhere around July 20 but the decorated mentor bared that nothing is cast in stone yet at this point.

The Ateneo mentor said they will have to finalize the dates and need to know all the protocols and travel restrictions before convening the Gilas pool following a winless campaign in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia.

"We don’t have exact dates yet. We don’t know exactly what the protocol measures will be in the Philippines but it looks like we’ll be back to the Calamba bubble for us at this point," he said after their 94-67 loss to the Dominican Republic.

"And we probably will be looking at something around july 20th to begin our preparations."

The continental showpiece is slated to kick off in Jakarta, Indonesia from August 17 to 29 with the Philippines emerging as one of the early favorites.

The Filipinos swept the qualifiers highlighted by twin victories against rival South Korea in the recently-concluded FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Clark, Pampanga.

Baldwin, though, said they have yet to name those who will compose the pool.

"We haven’t discussed that (pool composition) with the players or the other basketball stakeholders at this point," he said.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News