Decorated Canadian basketball coach Burke “BT” Toews finds it amusing to see the look on people’s faces whenever he explains how his surname is pronounced.

“It looks like ‘tows, twos’ or something, but it’s German. In German (language), the ‘OE’ is an ‘ay’ sound and the W is a ‘V’ sound. So, it’s actually, if you spell it, it’s ‘Tayvz,’” Toews said.

“So, good luck,” he quipped.

His name may look and sound complicated but his vision for Gilas Pilipinas Women’s is not.

Toews took over the program from long-time Gilas Women mentor Pat Aquino last May after spending more than a decade with a successful coaching career in Japan.

The two-time Women’s Japan Basketball League champion tactician’s plan is not to overhaul the Gilas Women program but to build on the foundation Aquino laid and add his system to help the national team reach greater heights.

“Coach Pat is Coach Pat. He did a lot I think for the program to get it this far, and I’m trying to build on what he’s done,” he said.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) brought in Toews with hopes of elevating Gilas Women’s competitiveness, especially in the world stage, injecting a fresh perspective.

Toews with his expertise perfectly fits the job.

When offered the opportunity, Toews did not hesitate.

“I think it’s a little unique in this country because there’s such a basketball following. There’s such a passion about basketball, and of course, especially Gilas,” he said.

A new challenge

Toews played professional basketball back in the 90s, seeing action in Japan, Canada and Germany.

However, coaching has always been Toews’ calling.

After acquiring a coaching license in Canada, he proceeded to his first coaching job outside of his country in the Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan.

He would then land as coach of the Hyogo Storks in the Japan B.League second division in 2011.

Toews first transferred to the women’s division first as a deputy before becoming the head coach of the Fujitsu Red Wave from 2013 to 2016. He returned to the B.League with the Hitachi SunRockers Tokyo-Shibuya for one season as head coach before joining the Toyama Grouses as an assistant.

He returned to Fujitsu in 2018 and found success, winning the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 league titles and the Empress Cup.

“It seemed like kind of an inopportune or a strange time to step down as a coach at the peak of my Spiderman power, so to speak. But I really felt strongly that at this stage of my career, I still had some personal goals that I wanted that were more than just championships,” he said.

Toews is a thrill-seeker.

He finds the challenge of turning underdogs into alphas addicting.

“Historically, I have been a men’s coach and I only spent ten years with women, but it was the same team. And that team was a team that when I started, along with my staff, was a team that was, let’s say, fifth in the conference, in the first division. And over time, we built it up into a powerhouse. We went to many finals that we lost, and lost badly,” Toews shared.

“But it was a rebuild, so to speak, and it took some time. In fact, that’s kind of been my MO (modus operandi) with men and high school as well. Teams that were not doing well, and after a few years, we were very, very strong, at least in the finals.”

Toews has seen a lot of potential in Gilas Women and he wants to be a part of the squad’s growth.

“Being in Asia for a long time, I am very familiar with all the teams in Asia, whether they’re a national team or a pro team. And of all the teams that I thought about, and I’ve had some other offers in Asia to coach national teams, I thought that the Philippines, the women’s team, is a team that has a really high ceiling,” he said.

“Not just because of what happened in the last few years with Coach Pat and the success they had, but if things could be changed, not just on the court, but off the court, I thought that the Philippines could really get to the top tier and be a perennial contender.”

Japanese strategy, Filipino passion

One thing Toews has noticed about the Philippine style of play is that Filipinos tend to blitz on offense, often sacrificing defense.

Outshooting opponents could only do so much, so Toews’ is focused on infusing the Japanese defensive discipline into the aggressive offensive thrust of Gilas Women.

“I mean, I scouted the Philippines for a long time, even before I got this job. And even more so after. And my impressions and my take is accurate, I believe. It shouldn’t be news to anybody. I think that the players’ individual offensive skill is very good. In some ways, it’s better than the Japanese players’ individual skill,” Toews said.

“But the Japanese, to make a direct comparison, play with the team in every sense. They sprint together, they play defense together, they’re all in charge of stopping the ball, they’re all on a string. Defensively, the ball moves quickly and people are cutting and flying all over the place. It’s dizzying.”

Toews is speaking practically, considering that aside from 6-foot-4 Jack Animam, Gilas Women is essentially a vertically challenged squad.

“I think the biggest, or the part, where I would put in my most effort is defensively. And just to make sure that we have not just a solid defense, but a defense that is also attacking,” he said.

“Because we would like to be in transition as much as possible, because of our lack of size. And take the best parts of Filipino players and put them in a position to succeed with the talent that they have.”

Toews believes Filipinas have the speed and agility to compensate for the lack of size.

“The major obstacle when you play internationally is in the half court, right? I think everybody’s seen that. You’ve got all that space and you can use speed and you can use timing, it’s fine. But when the defense gets set, it’s the half court and you’re not a big team, it’s tough to score. So, I think the offense can be organized,” the 60-year-old mentor added.

Currently, Gilas Women sits in the 30th spot in the world rankings — the Philippines’ highest in history.

Toews wants to improve on that under his watch.

“The fact that Japan plays the way they do is no secret. They started in 2015 with a FIBA ranking of 15. And then it took them 12 years. They went to 8th and reached as high as 3rd. It doesn’t happen overnight, right?” he said.

“I don’t want to say that we can just bring what Japan does to the Filipino national team. It’s not only should you copy someone completely, because you lose the essence of the players that you’re coaching and what they do well,” Toews added.

“But at the same time, I feel like there’s a lot of areas that we can tune up and we will imitate.”

Taking on battles ahead

Toews got his baptism of fire as Gilas Women coach during the 2026 FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Mexico from 17 to 23 August.

It wasn’t the result he wanted following Gilas Women’s group stage exit.

However, the Philippines showed a lot of promise after beating Senegal, 79-75, to finish its campaign. Gilas Women narrowly lost to host Mexico, 58-61, and got humbled by world No. 7 Canada, 38-85.

“One game does not give you an identity but we’re definitely headed in the right direction,” Toews said of the silver lining he saw in their campaign.

“We need to play with passion, which is something that the Gilas team always does and as Jack (Animam) said, fight. But fighting is not enough at this level. Your brain has to follow,” he added.

“So, we’re still waiting for the execution to get better and fewer hiccups in a game. So, we’re not quite there but I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

Toews now shifts to preparing his team for the coming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games next month.

Gilas Women are set to compete in the 20th Asiad from 17 to 26 September and are in Group B with the previous edition’s silver medalist Japan, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.

The Philippines was eliminated by South Korea in the quarterfinal of the Hangzhou edition three years ago.

Looking beyond the Asiad, Toews and Gilas Women are also preparing for a grand homestand in Cebu when the country hosts the 2027 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.

There, Toews will get to test how his fusion of Filipino and Japanese style of play will fare against no less than the mighty Japan national squad, the 2025 runner-up, last edition’s bronze medalist China and Middle Eastern powerhouse Lebanon.

“There will be some steps forward and some steps backwards. It happens in basketball. But the long-range plan is to be the best team we can be in the Asia Cup,” Toews said.

Toews is not just promising change for Gilas Women. He’s towing them in the right direction — one tournament at a time.