Gilas captain Isaac Go thanks teammates for making leadership role easy: 'There's a mutual respect'

Being named captain for Gilas Pilipinas is a special responsibility.

But taking on that leadership role for a young team where many of the players are around the same age could be a bit of a challenge, something that 25-year-old captain Isaac Go had to take on during the recent Gilas campaigns in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

"I think there is a challenge there because usually a leader is someone who is usually the senior of the group," Go told GMA News Online.

"There is that line you have to understand as a leader but you also have to talk to them as teammates and as equals because we’re all the same age."

Go took over the captain role after Rey Suerte, the previous captain, went down with a sprained ankle just days before the national were set to compete in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Clark.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) named Go as Suerte's successor for these tournaments.

But he said that this particular Gilas team, which had an average age of 22 years old, was great to captain for because of a “mutual respect” between the players.

"The guys were so easy to be around, it makes my job as a leader easier. When I talk, they listen and when they talk I listen," shared Go, the former overall top pick in the PBA 2019 Rookie Draft for Terrafirma.

"There is a mutual respect between everyone that trying to assert being a leader is easy."

The young Gilas squad performed admirably, defeating rival South Korea twice and taking care of business against Indonesia in the Asian qualifiers before giving powerhouse Serbia a scare in the OQT.

They eventually bowed out of Olympic contention against a tough Dominican Republic team.

—JMB, GMA News