Rhenz Abando of Letran and Mark Nonoy of La Salle are among the collegiate athletes in consideration to be added to the Gilas pool, Tab Baldwin bared on Thursday’s Zoom In as Gilas Pilipinas will have no rest as it prepares for another series of tournaments to close out the year.

“We will be looking to expand the pool anyway, so I’m looking at the players like Mark Nonoy and Rhenz Abando as well. You know, expanding, bringing in more talent in as long as players are available,” the decorated tactician said.

“When we have the opportunity to expand the pool, that’s what we want to do.”

Nonoy averaged 11.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists for University of Santo Tomas (UST) during his rookie year in UAAP Season 82 while  Abando racked with 11.71 points, 5.29 rebounds, and a team-high 1.29 blocks.

But for Baldwin, the 5-foot-10 Nonoy and other small guards have to turn into ‘elite defenders’ to make an impact with Gilas outside Asia.

“Mark at the point is small. But just watching him play, talking to the other coaches and thinking about him more and more, he’s a kid that seems to overcome the limitations of his size. Defensively, there’s going to be real challenges for him, and we’re seeing the same thing with RJ Abarrientos and SJ Belangel,” Baldwin said of the La Salle recruit.

“In Southeast Asia, it’s no problem. In Asia, it’s probably a winnable case for them. But when you get to the international level, you have to be an elite defender if you’re small. We want to try and help them achieve that, because their offensive capabilities, their speed, their ability to create offense is, it’s outstanding,” he propounded. 

For Abando, Baldwin shared that the 23-year-old is capable of making big plays for the squad. 

“For Rhenz Abando, he’s just a kid that can really shoot the ball. He’s a tremendous athlete and he shows that he can play in big moments,” Baldwin averred.

Baldwin shared other new athletes that are in consideration to be included in the Gilas pool that includes James Spencer, Ken Tuffin, and AJ Edu.

Spencer is currently with the Dandenong Rangers in the second-tier NBL1-South in Australia, Tuffin is playing with the Wellington Saints in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZ NBL), while Edu is competing with Toledo Rockets in the US. 

“We really liked him. He’s a big, strong, talented guard who is a tremendous defender,” the mentor said of the Fil-Aussie guard Spencer. 

Baldwin also assured that Thirdy Ravena, who just ended his first B.League season in Japan, and Juan Gomez de Liano will be invited to the next bubble for their preparation for the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade in July and the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup in Indonesia in August.

Nonetheless, at the end of the day, it is up to the prospects in showing commitment to the Gilas program; if not, their invites will mean nothing, says Baldwin. 

“There would be other names, given their availability, given their desire. We will expand the pool to include all of those guys. We see all of them as competing for places in this team and ultimately, it broadens the number of players that we ultimately have to choose from,” he said.

“We’re always on the lookout for which players are evolving and we will bring them in and this is going to be the nature of the program,” he added.