Gilas boys impress Toroman

I think this team has a better chemistry than the team that competed in the World Cup.

Vic Manuel and Gilas Pilipinas draw praise from former coach Rajko Toroman. DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG @tribunephl_dvd

Former Gilas Pilipinas coach Rajko Toroman was impressed with how Gilas Pilipinas played in the men’s basketball competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Toroman, the Serbian mentor who handled the original Gilas program, said the team that is seeing action in the biennial meet is way better than the squad that competed in the FIBA World Cup last September.

And his Indonesian side experienced it first-hand after suffering a 70-97 loss that sent the Filipinos to the finals of this 11-nation tournament.

They, however, are still playing Thailand for the gold medal as of press time.

“I think this team has a better chemistry than the team that competed in the World Cup despite the fact that Andray Blatche played there,” said Toroman, who led the Nationals to some memorable finishes in the international stage.

“You have some individual quality with (Andray) Blatche, but they didn’t play together. It was more individual play than team play.”

Toroman knows Philippine basketball like the back of his hand.

He was the genius behind the development of former Gilas players like Chris Tiu, Japeth Aguilar, Mark Barroca and Rey Guevarra while serving as consultant to Petron and Barako Bull in the Philippine Basketball Association.

But he still insisted that the squad of Tim Cone is way better than that of Yeng Guiao.

“Tactically this team is much better. They have a better chemistry they have a better size, they play for each other.” he said.

“They have 31 assists today which means they share the ball which is very important in basketball.”

Toroman believes that the unselfishness of this Gilas Pilipinas gives it an advantage over the previous batch.

“They don’t depend on just an individual quality, they have individual quality but everybody is working with the team.” he said.

“And that’s why I think they’re better than the world cup team. They have experience, they have great shooters but on the World Cup team I’m not sure.” he added.