With big tournaments ahead, Tab Baldwin only wishes his Filipino adventure had started sooner

MANILA (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - Anyone involved in international basketball has heard stories about the fanaticism people in the Philippines have for the sport.

A Southeast Asian nation made up of over 7,000 islands, the Philippines has a deep love for the game, which has formed an intrinsic part of the Filipino culture for over a century.

It's a reputation Tab Baldwin heard often during his three decades coaching the world over. Then he turned up in the capital of Manila and the native of Jacksonville, Florida could not believe what he found.

It doesn't matter if you go into the very poor areas, into nice neighbourhoods or business districts, you are going to find basketball courts. - Baldwin

"It's ridiculous. Literally you can't describe it," Baldwin told FIBA.com. "In all my life, no matter what the sport is, I haven't seen its equal.

"That includes Aussie Rules in Australia, All Black rugby union in New Zealand, America's fetish with the NFL, England's craze over Premier League soccer - I've never seen anything like how it is over here."

Introduced to the Philippines by North America's YMCA at the turn of the 20th century, basketball quickly took off.

By the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, when basketball was introduced properly for the first time, the Filipino men's team finished fifth of the 23 teams that participated.

They would go on to win bronze at the 1954 FIBA Basketball World Cup and, more than 60 years later, those two results remain Asia's best performances at the highest level.

They've won five FIBA Asia Championships and no less than 16 of the 17 gold medals in the history of the Southeast Asian (SEABA) Championships.

The latest installment of that competition commences on Monday in Singapore and serves as Baldwin's first major assignment.

The American, who guided the New Zealand men's team to fourth at the 2002 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Indianapolis, knows his side will again be the one to beat in Southeast Asia.

"We're taking a cadet team there," Baldwin, 56, explains. "We have to finish in the top three to qualify for [the] FIBA Asia [Championship]. We have to prepare well and go over there and play up to our ability."

If they qualify, the continental championship in Changsha, China (23 September-3 October) will be the next step and there the stakes will be raised significantly.

The winning team earns an automatic Olympic berth for Rio 2016, while the second- and third-place finishers will book their places for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

But the FIBA Asia Championship is where the Philippines' main Achilles heel may raise its head once more - namely, size.

"The talent is here in droves," Baldwin says. "We just have limited size.

"We have a few big kids and they're getting better, but we don't have depth. We have to accentuate speed and disruption and make ourselves as difficult to play against as possible."

When Baldwin says he has "a few big kids", he's being kind. He points to June Mar Fajardo, a 2.08m centre who gained some experience at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.

He also has 35-year-old American-born big man Marcus Douthit, a 2.11m centre who became a Filipino citizen back in 2011.

From the younger brigade, Baldwin says he has "some six-foot-six, six-foot-seen kids", concerning reading when it comes to the seven-footers most teams possess these days in the international game.

But they don't let a lack of height hold them back.

Although they finished with a 1-4 record at last year's World Cup, the Philippines only lost to Croatia by three points in overtime and to Argentina and Puerto Rico by four points each. The talent is there.

"I don't want to talk too much about results, but I didn't come here to end up with the same results they've had in the past," Baldwin said.

I'm looking forward to being part of a team that qualifies for world cups and, God willing, Olympics. - Baldwin

"But you don't throw high rises up. You build them brick by brick. That's what I have to do here," he cautioned.

Baldwin knows results must ultimately follow, but he can already see himself continuing beyond his current four-year deal.

He just wishes he'd gone there sooner.

"If you love the game, this is a journey you must take," he said. "I'd always heard about it, but never enough to make me say 'I've got to go see this'.

"Having come here now, I should've come here 30 years ago."

FIBA