Toroman singles out three pros for Gilas 5

MANILA, Philippines - Only three players from the Powerade Team Pilipinas that competed in 25th FIBA-Asia Championship in Tianjin, China have earned a second look from Smart Gilas Pilipinas coach Rajko Toroman.

They’re not James Yap, Willie Miller or Cyrus Baguio but Japeth Aguilar, Jared Dillinger and Gabe Norwood.

“Rajko believes that these three players plus the core of our Smart Gilas team and a naturalized player we can be competitive,” said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala.

Aguilar is an incoming rookie in the PBA, fresh from a stint in the US NCAA Division 1 while Dillinger and Norwood are young Fil-Americans who have created ripples in the country’s premier league.

The RP team that went to Tianjin landed eighth, a notch higher that its 2007 finish, but failed to impress the SBP leadership which believes that a long-term program is the thing to do for the country.

The Smart Gilas team, fully supported by the SBP under Smart/PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, has the finest amateur players in the fold like Chris Tiu, Andy Barroca and JV Casio.

“We’re trying to get a naturalized player and putting the team in place. And then the PBA can come in and help through these players that we have in mind,” said Eala of Aguilar, Dillinger and Norwood.

The Smart Gilas team is also looking at Ateneo’s Rabeh Al-Hussaini, UE’s Paul Lee and University of Cebu’s Junmar Fajardo as candidates to the team that will carry the load for the Philippines from now on.

“Right now they’re not the best but in two to three years they will be among the best. It’s not the matter of being the best but the ability to play together. If you look at Iran, they look ordinary but look at how they play,” Eala added.

He added that if the PBA wants to help, then lending these three players is all the SBP would ask for.

The SBP the other day said it’s taking full control of the national team and gear it up for the 2010 Asian Games in China and the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championship which will serve as a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

“The mandate and business model of PBA at this time is not consistent with demands and needs for maintaining a national team. We believe this (Smart Gilas) is the more comprehensive, more focused and obviously more responsive program,” said Eala.

Toroman, the Serbian coach who steered Iran to the 2007 FIBA-Asia crown in 2007, is at the helm of the SBP program, and has so far impressed the federation with his knowledge of the international brand of play.

“Rajko has a very good, very keen sense of international basketball and what has to be done,” said Eala, adding that Iran, Jordan and Lebanon, the hottest teams in Asia today, all have European coaches.

Eala said that once they got to Tianjin and saw all of the teams play, Rajko had insisted that Iran has what it takes to beat China. True enough, the Iranians crushed the Chinese in the finals.