Size always matters in basketball. For coaches, it is what they DO and not what they SAY that is important.
Well before the serbia and DR game, pinoys already know that tiny sj and rj will be destroyed by the bigger, stronger and more skilled oqt foreign guards.
It seems that, from time immemorial, coaches cannot resist the siren call to include tiny guards that are unfit for fiba nt duties.
It is also ridiculous to get a big gilas frontline,then not set up domination plays inside the paint. The plays for junmar can look stupidly repetitive against pitifully small 6'6 centers, but his post moves are dozens of trophies and awards in the pba bank.
However, i did notice the tab admission that people with pay grades higher than him can and do change player choices. These people probably represent the nt financiers. They can be interested in seeing their favored players get "international exposure", while much better local and filam players are deprioritized, when WINNING obviously is the ONLY PRIORITY FOR ANY NT. As i said, i like tab because he has enough fortitude not to make clearly stupid excuses for losing.
And, in fairness to the nt coaches, i dont really see the team rise to top 20, or even top 25 nts by 2023. The very serious flaws in having just one major nt donor, and using pba players with minimal teammanship and nt practices, will always drag down the international winning opportunities.
More importance should also be given in the very big differences in the roles and responsibilities of a pg, in contrast to sgs and combo guards. Hindi pwedeng mas suwapang pa sa scoring at hero balling ang point guards. The pgs are fit for fiba nt if they are VERY GOOD in assists, steals, trapping, breaking pnrs, turnover minimization, and gang rebounding. Hindi na natuto mga pinoy sa tamang gamit, evaluation at selection ng pgs.
Indicators of bad guard selection is when the GROUP OF pgs regularly outscore sgs and combos, their assists and rebounds are well below those of opposing GROUPS of pgs, their turnovers and bad decisions are more than the opposition pg group, etc.