Patience is a virtue

Coaching consultant Rajko Toroman was visibly dejected after Petron lost a 102-86 decision to Rain Or Shine in the Blaze Boosters’ first game of the Philippine Cup in the just-started PBA season last week. Detractors pointed to an “untenable” situation, where Toroman shares bench duties with designated head coach Olsen Racela, as the cause of the confusion that led to the lopsided outcome.

But Toroman said there’s no problem between Racela and him. “I have the highest respect for Olsen,” said Toroman. “My stay in the Philippines is temporary. I’m here to lay the groundwork. We’ve worked together well. Petron is Olsen’s team. At the moment, we’re running my system in practice. We’re the only two coaches allowed to stand up on the sidelines during a game. Olsen is a very intelligent coach with a high basketball IQ. I’m really excited to be working with him and preparing Petron for the future.”

As a rookie PBA coach, Racela can certainly learn a lot from the 57-year-old Toroman who piloted Iran to the FIBA Asia throne in 2007 and at the Beijing Olympics the year after. Toroman’s experience as a coach is extensive with stops in Greece, Belgium, China, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Poland, Cyprus and Hungary. What he knows, Toroman shares openly with the 41-year-old Racela.

In an interview on AKTV, Racela said, “I’m a team player, I understand the situation and the entire team knows the situation as well.” For his part, Toroman said, “We’re designated to help each other out – if people are trying to make a problem involving Olsen and me, then there’s nothing I can do about that … but there’s no problem between us.”

Against Rain Or Shine, Toroman said things didn’t work out as planned. “They sagged and gave us the outside shot but we couldn’t score,” he said. “On the other side, they shot so well from the three-point line, even the bigs shot well with (Beau) Belga going 3-of-6 and (J. R.) Quinahan 3-of-3. We have big hopes for June Mar (Fajardo), he’ll be very good but right now, he’s only 22. We have to be patient. As a team, we’re starting from zero. We’re doing many things different. Even Tim (Cone) had a hard time with B-Meg at the start and lost three of his first four games. But we’re all working hard. Marcio (Lassiter) will be ready for his first full practice on Monday after not having played for six months because of an ACL injury.”

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Petron guard Chris Lutz, who played under Toroman with Smart Gilas, said players are still adjusting to the change in system. “With coach Ato (Agustin), there was a lot of freedom to do things,” he said. “With coach Rajko, we do things in a deliberate way. Both systems are fine. We players just have to execute.”

Toroman said he couldn’t ask more from the players in terms of effort. Everyone is going the extra mile for Petron to succeed. “The focus is there,” said Toroman. “Arwind (Santos), for instance, is the first to arrive for practice. The coaches come much earlier so we can talk about what to do. Communication is very important.”

Chemistry was clearly an issue in the Rain Or Shine loss. The rotation was far from smooth with four players logging at least 35 minutes, leaving little time for the rest. With the Painters sagging, the Boosters jacked up 32 triples, burying only eight. They had less turnover points, 6-15, less fastbreak points, 7-16 and less assists, 17-20. Rain Or Shine had a higher field goal percentage, .481 to .341 and shot 10-of-25 triples to Petron’s 8-of-32.

Last Wednesday, Petron showed up with a new face on. This time, the Boosters ran and gunned with impunity. They were focused on defense and did right what they had done wrong against Rain Or Shine. When the smoke cleared, Petron emerged on top, 98-89, over Barako Bull. The Boosters had more fastbreak points, 30-4, more turnover points, 21-14, more steals, 8-4, more blocked shots, 7-1 and more assists 29-17. They also shot 48 percent from the field compared to Barako’s 39 percent. From three-point distance, Petron threw up only 18 shots – 14 less than in the Rain Or Shine game – and hit five. But what was glaring was how Racela and Toroman managed their players’ minutes. Only two players logged at least 35 minutes with eight clocking at least 15, 10 at least 10 minutes. All the 11 players sent in contributed points with Fajardo the lowest scorer at three.

Before the game, Toroman said he expected Barako to do what Rain Or Shine did in forcing Petron to try to win from the outside. “Barako will probably zone us but we’re prepared,” he said. “We’ll be more aggressive attacking the basket, we won’t shoot as many threes.” It turned out exactly how Toroman envisioned. Petron didn’t fall into Barako’s trap, used quickness to fuel a dizzying transition assault and won with plenty to spare.

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Still, Barako came back from a 20-point deficit to trim the lead to five in the fourth period but couldn’t sustain the momentum. At least coach Junel Baculi proved that in the PBA, no lead is safe and the Energy Cola can’t be taken lightly.

“We’re a brand-new team,” said Baculi. “We gave up Willie Miller in the offseason so we’re short of a two-guard to rotate with Ronald (Tubid) and Roger (Yap). We could certainly use a player like Allein Maliksi. We’re excited about Danny (Seigle) playing again but we won’t rush him. He’ll play limited minutes until he’s ready to go full blast. DS42 is still a dangerous player. I’m also excited about Sean (Anthony) who gives us a lot of energy on the court.”

Baculi confirmed a deliberate effort to reunite former Red Bull players Enrico Villanueva, Mick Pennisi, Leo Najorda and Celino Cruz. The goal is to generate chemistry among the old and new faces. Rookies in the team are Lester Alvarez and Dave Marcelo with Woody Co and Eman Monfort waiting in the wings on the reserve list. New veteran recruits are Josh Urbiztondo, Yap, Jason Ballesteros, Anthony and Villanueva.

Barako hasn’t finished higher than seventh in the All-Filipino Conference since entering the PBA as FedEx in 2002, according to league statistician Fidel Mangonon. So making it to the semifinals will be a major feat for the Energy Cola.

Making his PBA debut for Barako in the Petron game was the 5-8 Alvarez who had two points and a steal with no turnover in 12 minutes.