Fiba Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers

[ARMIR]

I am always fascinated about the composition of NZ Breakers' line up - 7 of its 13 players are Kiwis and members of Tall Blacks for atleast one game.

I think if ABL will still be around, SBP should field a team with the core of Gilas cadets (Dwight, Balty, Juan, Javi, Oftana, Carino, Navarro, Kobe) with Kouame and McCullough as imports. They should replace Alab as the Philippines' representative there.

Plus the fact that familiarity with your opponents,so that our boys won't be surprised with the Kiwi's brand of basketball.

[ja.he]

^
when will ABL be scheduled

BTW one of the things again gone a little unoticed , is Tab's desire to play Australian NBL teams ...

would be smart to consider this
- when does the Australain NBL end ( May ?)
- when does the UAAP end ? (May)
- Are their states in Australia that are already Covid community free ( meaning they don't need to compete inside a bubble ?)

Think of that..

Ofcourse, I posted that with the presumption that things will come back into normal. That's what I had in mind.

[Silent Killer]

^
when will ABL be scheduled

BTW one of the things again gone a little unoticed , is Tab's desire to play Australian NBL teams ...

would be smart to consider this
- when does the Australain NBL end ( May ?)
- when does the UAAP end ? (May)
- Are their states in Australia that are already Covid community free ( meaning they don't need to compete inside a bubble ?)

Think of that..

Ofcourse, I posted that with the presumption that things will come back into normal. That's what I had in mind.

sydney as preferred city for training..

NBL usually runs 4-5 months

victoria area has no cases.. vaccine will roll out in next few weeks or months

adelaide has cases but already controlled.

WA almost none

sydney or NSW beginning to ease restrictions

[RV65]

Why Calvin Oftana sat out Gilas-Thailand I
https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/w......interesting.

[JAMSKIE]

#LabanPilipinas Gilas Pilipinas program director Tab Baldwin on Kobe Paras: "We played him out of position because we really needed his size and strength around the basket and he wasn’t comfortable at all so that was a burden he carried for us and never complained once." ^^

#ReadMore >> http://tbti.me/s209cc

Does this mean Kobe is really more comfortable playing the 3 than the 4?

He's comfortable playing the 3 & yet he loses the ball on dribble & can't hit from the outside. I wonder what the word comfortable means

[analyzed]

Yeah and national teams represent the local basketball body and the basketball programme much more than the county and the people. Absurd as it sounds, it is what it is and what we can do is to play it smart (like what we intend to do with kouame). So, set aside nlng muna the "Filipino pride" and if there's more foreigners we can add to the program, let's do it, just like what other NTs have been doing

Do note what this also means for our ineligibles in the PBA like Pringle and Standhardinger.
Essentially if Kouame plays as a local we have a pool of one NP to fill in a gap need, if PG then get Pringle, if PF then Standhardinger, I don't need to remind people we're weak in those areas

[ARMIR]

Does this mean Kobe is really more comfortable playing the 3 than the 4?

He's comfortable playing the 3 & yet he loses the ball on dribble & can't hit from the outside. I wonder what the word comfortable means

He played 3,since HS,his early college days and even now in UP,heck if he can learn to have a better handle,steady 3 and midrange shots,he can be inserted as a big 2 in short burst,whenever there's a play or two to have bigs on the floor.In the last BLIA Cup,he doesn't really wants to bang against the opposing 4 of the other teams.

[analyzed]

Does this mean Kobe is really more comfortable playing the 3 than the 4?

He's comfortable playing the 3 & yet he loses the ball on dribble & can't hit from the outside. I wonder what the word comfortable means

A swing man playing the 4 position isn't uncommon for Tab, it's actually symanctics..
We can debate this to death, but at the end of the day Tab's team have in the past and will continue to have a player he describes as a wing playing the 4 position.
So essentially is moot, call them whatever you want if it suits

[JAMSKIE]

Maybe the answer is with Tab. Those aren't my words anymore, so, basically, you're arguing (or questioning) with tab in this instance, not with me. BTW, i did note and appreciate that you also highlighted "we played him out of position" although you chose to argue with the comfortable part.

No bro. I don't mean to argue with or to question coach Tab with what he said about Kobe. I just find it odd & a bit surprised to hear such comment from Tab that Kobe is more comfortable playing the 3 than playing the 4. This despite of Kobe's shaky handles & his not so reliable 3-pt. shooting (even Kobe's medium range jumpshot isn't that good either). I think most of us (if not all) here were also surprised with what Tab had said.

[JAMSKIE]

He played 3,since HS,his early college days and even now in UP,heck if he can learn to have a better handle,steady 3 and midrange shots,he can be inserted as a big 2 in short burst,whenever there's a play or two to have bigs on the floor.In the last BLIA Cup,he doesn't really wants to bang against the opposing 4 of the other teams.

This fact is what really baffles me the most. He has played 3 as far back as high school & perhaps his 2 years at college, so in terms of reps, he had enough. But why the shaky handles & suspect 3-pt. shooting? His mid-range game is even suspect.

[JAMSKIE]

From the scoutings before he came back to play for UP, wasn't a bad ball handler, it was good but NOT ELITE. And from my interpretation, and from what I've seen then, it's about decent enough for a 2 guard but not enough for a primary ball handler. He was shooting well from 2 and was very decent from 3, to say the least. About his slashing, he didn't have that sudden change of pace but he was smooth on the drive, much like a taller cyrus baguio. Im not sure either why from that he's just an explosive jumper who would also land explosively (in a bad way). He's lost the finesse, the glide. I don't know if it's because he's bulked up in order to survive playing 4 for UP or just uncomfortable with his new assigned position. Anyway, from what tab describes it, kobe is also adjusting from being a go to guy to someone who shares the court with a lot of also talented players. Maybe it's the transition from being given the green to shoot (a lot of players need that to get into rhythm) into a role player.what's good to hear tho is he's been willing

I remember hearing reports that when Kobe was just in high school in the US, he's been shooting well from 3-pt. there. I also saw some videos of a No. Of his games in the US where he drives & finishes well. I thought to myself maybe this kid has the makings of a Danny Seigle or maybe just a poorman Danny Seigle in offense. I wud be satisfied to see even the latter.

[Juan Lun]

This fact is what really baffles me the most. He has played 3 as far back as high school & perhaps his 2 years at college, so in terms of reps, he had enough. But why the shaky handles & suspect 3-pt. shooting? His mid-range game is even suspect.

Because he hasn't been exposed to higher tier competition enough. Those HS YouTube highlights showing dribbling skills, quickness and speed are deceptive, casual fans would instantly get hyped because of this. A true gauge would be seeing how Kobe actually plays against decent defense and so far he has been able to get away with one dimensional drives, Blatche like behind the back dribbles and being big and athletic

[thatweirdguy]

I remember hearing reports that when Kobe was just in high school in the US, he's been shooting well from 3-pt. there. I also saw some videos of a No. Of his games in the US where he drives & finishes well. I thought to myself maybe this kid has the makings of a Danny Seigle or maybe just a poorman Danny Seigle in offense. I wud be satisfied to see even the latter.

Everyone looks good in highlight clips.. and HS games aren't exactly a good barometer of future success. A lot of HS stars failed to make an impact in the pro or even collegiate level.

[analyzed]

Reality is Tab still used Kobe at 4 when it mattered (close game not garbage time) based on Tab's assessment of Kobe's skill set, which he says needs work( go figure what those weakness are).
To me way I read what Tab said was, "Kobe's preference is to play the wing, his attitude was great in that he played the position (4) different from his preference, and had no issues on doing what the coach requested.
It doesn't mean Tab sees Kobe's skill set as adequate to play 3, but more he knows Kobe's preference is to play 3

[TheNatural7]

Reality is Tab still used Kobe at 4 when it mattered (close game not garbage time) based on Tab's assessment of Kobe's skill set, which he says needs work( go figure what those weakness are).
To me way I read what Tab said was, "Kobe's preference is to play the wing, his attitude was great in that he played the position (4) different from his preference, and had no issues on doing what the coach requested.
It doesn't mean Tab sees Kobe's skill set as adequate to play 3, but more he knows Kobe's preference is to play 3

Yeah. I agree with this take. Kobe thinks he's a perimeter. Kobe has always played as a perimeter player. Kobe trains to be a perimeter player. Kobe wants to be a perimeter player. Tab saw his fit on the team and his skillset and saw that he wouldn't be a good fit on the team as an SF and chose to put him at the 4 for the purposes of the team.

If he wanted Kobe to score as much as possible, he would have played him at the 3 and ran plays designed for him to score, but Kobe at the 4 was what was best for the team. We saw that in the game too where he was largely ineffective playing with Carino and Baltazar. He's being put in a position where his skills are fit for the context of a team, not in a position where it would be best for his own individual performance.