As good as it is to have both Junmar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter playing for Gilas Pilipinas, this doesn't mean that the team can pass on having someone like Andray Blatche on the team. The 6 foot 10 inches naturalized big man does not only give the team the height that they need, but he's also a legitimate scorer and a hard-nose defender who can free up his teammates and attract double-teams.

Having him back on the fold would take a lot of pressure from the shoulders of Jayson Castro and the other players which will allow them to play much better when they face Qatar and Kazakhstan next month.

The fact that Andray Blatche is very much engaged in being part of the team, I'm pretty sure that his return would give us those Ws that we need for a chance to qualify for the World Cup.

Is Tab Baldwin the next Gilas Pilipinas coach?

Coach Tab Baldwin has been with Gilas Pilipinas since our preparation for the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship as a technical consultant. It started when Gilas Pilipinas went to New Zealand for a couple of tune-up games against some of the top local teams there and the NZ national team known as the 'Tall Blacks'. He was the head coach of the NBL team Hawkes Bay Hawks then which Gilas Pilipinas defeated twice in a row in an exhibition game. Just a couple of days after Gilas went back to the Philippines, coach Tab followed to serve as a technical consultant for the team.

The move was greatly welcomed by local hoop fans as coach Tab has an excellent coaching resume under his belt specifically when he took the 'Tall Blacks' to the semifinals of the 2002 FIBA World Cup. He also had stints with the Malaysian national team, Lebanese national team, and the Jordanian national team which he took to the finals of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship losing by just 1 point against the host nation, China in the finals. Coach Tab also coached in the US NCAA and Europe.

His stint as a consultant for Gilas Pilipinas continued until the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain and the 2014 Incheon Asian Games in South Korea.

Last night, Quinito Henson reported on Instagram that coach Tab will be coming back to the Philippines to serve as a consultant for the Talk'nText Tropang Texters and at the same time 'cover the elite program down to the U16 level.'

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American coach Tab Baldwin, a naturalized New Zealander, took New Zealand to the top 4 of the FIBA World Cup in 2002, brought Lebanon to the 2010 FIBA Asia Cup throne and piloted Jordan to 2nd place at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships, losing to China 70-69 in final, was Gilas coaching consultant at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships, FIBA World Cup in Spain and Asian Games in Incheon--he's back in New Zealand but arrives in Manila next week to become consultant with Talk 'N' Text in the PBA and SBP to cover the elite program down to the U16 level, Tab is an asset to Philippine basketball! #BasketballNeverStops #LabanPilipinasPuso #SmartGilas

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Could this be SBP's way of integrating him to Philippine basketball?