Toroman lauds Ramos, Sotto, Ravena
FORMER national men’s basketball coach Rajko Toroman may have been out of the Philippine coaching scene already and yet he remains a firm believer that Filipinos can still play competitive basketball internationally.
The 67-year-old Toroman confesses that he still watches the basketball leagues even when he’s coaching overseas.
In fact, other than watching the PBA games from livestream or YouTube, Toroman feels the current generation of young Filipino players really have the talent to compete overseas, among them are Gilas Pilipinas mainstay Dwight Ramos, 7-foot-2 young big man Kai Sotto and Thirdy Ravena.
“They are very talented, have good size, are athletic and smart,” Toroman told The Manila Times.
Ramos, the former Ateneo Blue Eagle, is currently in his second stint in the Japan B.League after recently inking a deal with the Levanga Hokkaido. He first saw action for Toyama Grouses in September 2021 after deciding to forego his final year with Ateneo in the UAAP.
The Fil-American played a key defensive role in Gilas’ 74-66 win over Jordan over a week ago in Amman. A few days later, Ramos scored 13 points in the Philippines’ 76-63 triumph over Saudi Arabia to score a two-game sweep of the fifth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
“I am impressed with Dwight Ramos. He looks to me like a European player,” Toroman said, noting the three-point shooting skills of the FilAm guard, who also played for Cal State-Fullerton, and later, Cal State Polytechnic U in Pomona.
The former Serbian national coach also felt the 7-foot-2 Sotto should have spent more time developing his skills overseas before applying for the NBA draft.
“It was a good decision for Sotto to go to Australia, but a bad decision to go and join the (NBA) draft. One year of (exposure) in a strong league is not enough (to get) drafted. But he is the future of Gilas,” stressed Toroman.
As for Ravena, Toroman likes the defensive energy he brings to the table, and will just have to improve on his shooting.
Considering the talent depth of the Philippines, Toroman is convinced Indonesia has no chance of dominating Southeast Asia even though the Indons upended the Filipinos’ basketball reign in the SEA Games last June.
“I don’t feel that they (Indonesians) can touch the Filipinos. They can be closer but they cannot dominate in Southeast Asia. High school competition and college competition are better in the Philippines and of course, the PBA is much stronger than IBL (Indonesian Basketball League),” explained Toroman, who a few months back, stepped down as Indonesia’s national team project director.
The veteran international coach believes the constant Gilas roster changes was to blame for the Philippines’ SEA Games debacle.
“Maybe one of the reasons (the national team struggled this year) is that Gilas always plays with different players,” said Toroman, who stepped down from his post as Indonesia’s national program director last July.
Having coached Gilas for three years, before handling PBA squads Petron (now San Miguel) and Barako Bull from 2012-2013, Toroman has no doubt in his mind that Filipinos are capable of dominating again if only Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas will start putting the best talent in the national team.
“Once they put all the best players in the national team, they will be dominating,” he added.