Gilas Pilipinas leaves for Greece on Friday to embark on a grueling three-week trip that would be the meat of its preparations for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament set in Manila from July 5-10.
Tab Baldwin named 14 players to the pool, making Marcio Lassiter as the last cut for the European trip with the San Miguel Beer sharpshooter far from being in perfect health after a terrible bout with bronchopneumonia.
The Nationals on Wednesday night brought down an Iranian national team that showed up minus its three best players, but an 81-70 victory at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao still showed the vast potential of this batch of Gilas players that will be tasked to take the Philippines back to the Olympics in less than a month.
“We’re getting better, but it’s still a long way’s away,” Baldwin told Arab News after the game, minutes before he made Lassiter as the final cut.
Marc Pingris, who will earn another tour of duty as a National, is asking the entire country and its basketball-crazy populace to keep on supporting the Gilas Five as they embark on what seems like mission impossible in the Qualifying tournament.
“Please continue to support and pray for us,” Pingris said. “It would mean a lot.”
Aside from the well wishes and the prayers, the Nationals will be buckling down to hard work as they face tremendous odds in the Qualifier. And who knows, the country might just spring a surprise.

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Team Philippines will be clashing with New Zealand and France in the tournament set at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, and the Filipinos would need to win at least one of those games in order to advance to the crossover Final Four.
Turkey, Canada and Senegal are the other teams belonging to the other group, with the likely semifinalists – no offense meant to the Senegalese – looking to be the Turks and the Canadians.
Only the champion in this qualifier will make it to the main draw of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics set in August, and the Philippines would have to score reversals – yes, several – of mammoth proportions in order to make it back to the Games for the first time in more than four decades.
But as the saying goes, the ball has always been round and anything can still happen.
And coupled with the prayers of an entire nation, we never can tell what could truly happen, even if the Philippines installed as the terrible underdogs against any of those teams mentioned above.

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Baldwin had just one question that stood out after the game, when someone asked the mild-mannered coach on what he thought about the crowd that showed up during the exhibition game.
“To tell you honestly, I was thinking that it (Araneta Coliseum) would be full,” Baldwin said. “I just thought that people would be rolling over themselves to get in because this is their national team.
“If Ginebra can fill this venue (during PBA games), why can’t Gilas?” Baldwin asked.
The Nationals played in front of a crowd that wouldn’t be more than 8,000. Though those who showed up cheered Gilas hoarse, especially in the endgame when the Iranians came to within two after being down by as large as 23, it was really strange that the Big Dome didn’t cater to a full house that night.
“I appreciate those who came tonight, but I was really expecting to see a lot more (of the Filipino fans),” Baldwin said. “This is your team, you should cheer this team roundly and loudly each night.”
Several factors could have contributed to that, but Baldwin can be sure that when tournament time comes, the Mall of Asia Arena will be packed to the rafters.

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June Mar Fajardo, the most dominant big man in the PBA these days, struggled against the Iranians, finishing with just three points and three rebounds in under 12 minutes.
The 6-foot-10 giant, the reigning two-time PBA MVP, clearly was a tad slower than his Iranian counterparts, and this was a cause of alarm for Baldwin, who obviously would want to get more out of Fajardo for the Filipinos to contend in the Quaifiers.
“June Mar has to be big, quick and fast,” Baldwin said. “The more he does that, the more we are going to be able to tap in to his skill set. Once he plays the game at an increased pace and tempo, we can avail of his skills.”
Baldwin reiterated that playing against the Kiwis and the French will take the Philippines into unchartered terrain, that the PBA brand of play would not be able to help the Filipinos against those two foes.
“It’s a different type of basketball, a different level of team depth when you talk of national teams from Canada and Europe,” Baldwin said.
Make no mistake about it, Baldwin knows what we will be up against in less than four weeks.
But like the way the Philippines played in the World Cup in Spain two years ago, my gut feel is that the Filipinos will again make the world take a second look at them.
My only hope is that we go all the way this time and for our National team to be not content just giving our opponents a scare.