https://www.spin.ph/basketball/fiba...n-republic-a5172-20230826?ref=home_featured_1
'Point guard problem' a cause of concern?
The lack of a 'true point guard' was among key areas of contention by some Gilas fans anew.
Baldwin, however, refuses to acknowledge the outdated narrative of 'positional basketball' in the modern game.
"I think people need to stop talking about positional basketball. We have ‘ball carriers’ and this is probably the term people need to start using," Baldwin asserted.
"
Scottie Thompson’s a ball carrier.
Kiefer (Ravena) is certainly an excellent ball carrier. He played extremely well in the first half last night.
Dwight Ramos is a confident ball carrier. Of course, Jordan is a good ball carrier, so we don’t have problems there."
And in terms of Gilas' attacking style of play as embodied by Clarkson, turnovers prove to be an inevitable risk tagged with the in-game approach of
Chot Reyes' wards.
"I think the 19 turnovers, and Jordan had 8 of those, were really a byproduct of the style of play where we use an attacking style of play. We’re attacking the rim all the time and trying to collapse defenses and kick out to shooters," Baldwin said.
"We had a little bit of limited success doing that with
Roger (Pogoy) and Scottie hitting a couple of threes, but that is the modern style of play for a lot of teams. No matter how you create that penetration, whether it’s isolation or ball screens, that’s what people are doing," he added.
In closing, Baldwin stood firm on how Gilas' alleged point guard dilemma is a non-existent problem considering how the game has evolved at the international level.
"Gilas had a guy that could create, get in the paint, and score in Jordan Clarkson but anytime you have that style of play, you’re gonna have to live with a few more turnovers. But we don’t have a ‘point guard problem,'" Baldwin reiterated.
"No one in international basketball is using all-out pressing defenses to cause turnovers, so you have to have guys that can get the ball more and initiate your offense."
