MANILA, Philippines - Former Philippine national basketball team head coach Rajko Toroman, a keen observer in the recently concluded FIBA Asia championship, is optimistic for the future of Philippine basketball.
Toroman, who led the first edition of Smart Gilas Pilipinas that finished fourth in the 2011 FIBA Asia qualifiers, stated that the Philippines has the largest talent pool in Asia.
"I think there are at least 30 or 40 players who can play in the national team, guys like Marco Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos, Chris Lutz. That is the advantage the Philippines has over the others," said Toroman, the current coach of the Barako Bull Energy Cola in the PBA.
"In China you cannot easily replace Yi Jianlian or Wang Zhizhi or in Iran if you remove Haddadi, Kamrani and Bahrami, they will be an average team," he added.
The revered Serbian national, who has acclaimed himself well in the basketball-crazed country and has great knowledge of the basketball level in the Philippines, continued to stress a bright future for basketball.
"The talent here grows like mushrooms after a rain, and even in the next PBA Draft at least 10 great players will apply. I don't see other countries in Asia with the talent the Philippines have," said the 58-year old mentor.
Toroman also commended Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign and their excellent performance that resulted to a hard-earned ticket for the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain next year.
"I think they still played great today (Sunday) with a lot of energy and heart but it was very difficult to play against an experienced Iran team without Marcus Douthit," said Toroman after the Nationals’ silver medal finish Sunday night.
"They have made all 90 million Filipinos proud with the way they played and after a long time, the Philippines is in the basketball world map again and it is really great," he said.