Toroman ready to go, awaits MVP proposal

MANILA, Philippines - Rajko Toroman hasn’t visited home for 1 1/2 years and returns to Serbia with wife Tanya tomorrow but will return here Nov. 15 to discuss a proposal that SBP president Manny Pangilinan will suggest at the end of this month. His contract to coach Smart Gilas has expired and the free agent told The STAR yesterday he’s anxious to find out what Pangilinan has in mind after baring his soul for an hour in their private one-on-one meeting last Thursday.

But at the moment, Toroman said what he needs is complete rest. He is looking forward to reuniting with daughter Sandra, son-in-law Mlade Sekularac and 4-year-old grandson Djordje in Serbia.

“The last three months leading to the FIBA-Asia Championships took about 10 years of my life,” sighed the 56-year-old Toroman. “There was too much pressure, too much stress. I had a breakout of rashes in my body and I felt a burning sensation in my hands and feet. I had never felt like this before. It was quite an unforgettable experience for me. Still, I will always be grateful to Mr. Pangilinan, the players, the PBA, the coaching staff, the SBP, the fans and everyone involved with Smart Gilas for the chance to try to give the best results for the Philippines.”

Toroman said he’s not aware of what Pangilinan’s proposal will be. “We were so close to finishing with a medal in Wuhan,” he said. “Not too many people realize how competitive the national team has become. Remember how we played in the last Jones Cup where we beat Iran and in the Champions Cup where we played against national teams with two imports. In Wuhan, we outscored China by seven in the second half and coach (Bob) Donewald admitted he preferred to play Jordan in the finals instead of us. Even Jordan coach (Tab) Baldwin credited our team for making key adjustments to win in our first game. In the playoff against Korea, we missed five free throws in the final seconds and Marcus got an offensive rebound with the chance to give us the win but lost the ball with six seconds to go.”

The Philippines placed fourth in Wuhan and posted the country’s best finish in the FIBA-Asia Championships in 24 years, duplicating the effort in 1987. As a result, the Philippines moved up to No. 45 in the FIBA world rankings from No. 65 in 2005 but the jump could’ve been higher as two countries that lost to Gilas in Wuhan were surprisingly rated above – No. 34 Japan and No. 41 Chinese-Taipei. China is ranked No. 10, Iran No. 20, Jordan No. 28 and Korea No. 31.

“If I’m allowed to do it all over again, I would definitely require at least three months of practicing with the entire team before a tournament,” he said. “We cannot hope for a miracle in a high-level tournament like the FIBA-Asia Championships. We might be able to stop the shooters against the East Asian countries but it’s another thing to deal with the size of Iran and Jordan. It was tough to get everyone adjusted to our system in Wuhan. This is not an excuse and I’m thankful that Kelly (Williams), Ranidel (de Ocampo), Jimmy (Alapag) and Asi (Taulava) joined us in Wuhan. But while we were stronger defensively with the PBA players in Wuhan than in the Jones Cup and Champions Cup, we weren’t as fluid offensively. We couldn’t run as many plays as before. In the semifinals against Jordan, coach Baldwin did a good job of scouting us. It got to a point where our players called out the plays in Pilipino.”

Toroman said the presence of Williams and De Ocampo provided Marcus Douthit the opportunity to concentrate on scoring and rebounding. At the end of the tournament, Douthit was No. 1 in points and rebounds, outshining Iran’s NBA center Hamed Haddadi. 

“Kelly had only three practices and two tune-up games with us – imagine if he was with us longer,” said Toroman. “We were scheduled to play tune-ups in Qatar, Portugal and Turkey but our trip was cancelled. We had to give the Talk ‘N’ Text players a few weeks to rest after the PBA third conference. Even Marcus had to leave for the US to attend to a family matter. I realize how difficult it was to expect the players to extend themselves. I also know it’s not fair to compare our players with stars like Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki and Spain’s Rudy Fernandez. Nowitzki practiced 1 1/2 months with Germany before the European Championships while Fernandez only had four days of rest going to the Spanish league.”

Toroman said he made hard decisions in Wuhan to use certain players and not others for the good of the team. Japeth Aguilar, for instance, played sparingly and didn’t see action in the semifinals and the playoff for third. “We needed Kelly and Ranidel at the four position to cover for Marcus defensively,” said Toroman. “I don’t hate Japeth. I just think Kelly and Ranidel don’t make the same mistakes on defense and we couldn’t afford lapses in the crucial games. In the preliminaries, I played Kelly and Ranidel to give them more familiarity with our system. With his height, Japeth could jump to the roof but doesn’t get enough rebounds and isn’t tough enough defensively. If Japeth only had Chris Tiu’s head, he would be playing in the NBA. As I told the players before the tournament, I would do things that could be like I’m digging my own grave but my guideline is just to do what is right, what is best for the team. I’ve always believed that what’s important is to do what is best for the team not what is best for any individual player.”

Toroman said Tiu’s leadership will be vital in Gilas’ future. “Chris means so much to the national team,” he said. “He will play in the Southeast Asian Games and can lead Gilas to 2013 when we might be able to host the FIBA-Asia Championships, the qualifiers for the World Championships. I was informed that the PBA plans to form a 16-man pool for Gilas and the SBP will use a Gilas 2 program to bring in college stars like Kiefer (Ravena), Bobby Ray (Parks), Greg (Slaughter) and Aldrech (Ramos). Both approaches are good but in the end, what’s important is the team must play together as a unit at least three months before a tournament. There can be no short-cuts. We were so close to finishing in the top three in Wuhan despite the lack of practice.”