Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
    View Today
    Sun, Nov 5

    Rajko Toroman's frank assessment of Gilas campaign at World Cup

    Sensing disappointment but seeing the World Cup campaign as 'a step forward,' Rajko says Gilas needs only to do this to take on the Top 16 in the world
    Sep 6, 2023
    undefined

    RAJKO Toroman isn't too disappointed with Gilas Pilipinas' performance in the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup, saying it is still 'a step forward ' despite the losses for a team that can be Top 16 in the world.

    Speaking to SPIN.ph after Gilas' 1-4 (win-loss) campaign that included a win over China and a close loss to world-beater Italy, the veteran coach insisted that the "results were not great but the way they played wasn't disappointing.

    READ: Toroman willing to take on Gilas job in Asiad? Rajko responds

    "The nation was disappointed with the result. After signing (Jordan) Clarkson for the competition [and] Kai Sotto, the expectations started to be very high," said the coach who presided over the launch the Gilas national team program.

    "For me, the result was not that great but the way they played was not disappointing because all the games were very close. It’s a world competition. Four, five years ago, Gilas was losing against Serbia by 50, 60 points. Now all the games, [even] against Italy, were very close," Toroman added.

    MORE FROM SPIN
    MORE FROM SPIN

      Asked where Gilas fell short or what went wrong, Toroman said it was mostly the team heaping too much responsibility on Clarkson and the NBA player coming up short in the losses to the Dominican Republic, Angola, South Sudan and Italy.

      "There are a lot of small things. But for me, Jordan Clarkson didn’t play on the level of what everyone expected from him in the first four games," said Toroman, who is in the country as consultant for both Converge and St. Benilde.

      "Maybe if we had the Jordan Clarkson from the last game in the first four games, maybe we could win one or two games. It could’ve been a totally different result and different opinion about the participation of Gilas in the World Cup."

      jordan clarkson gilas china world cup

      ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

      The same was true vice versa, he added.

      "Maybe some of the players were waiting for Jordan Clarkson to solve all the problems. Maybe they were a little bit quiet, and in that, I can see the problem," he said.

      Asked about the minutes spread among Gilas players which became a contentious issue during the campaign, Toroman said: "If somebody expected to play 35 minutes and only played five, that’s the problem. Before the World Cup, you have to decide about the main things.

      "In my opinion, Kai Sotto expected more minutes and a bigger role in the team. That’s one of the problems, but that’s up to the coach."

      READ: Kai Sotto expresses gratitude to Gilas, hits back at critics

      The well-travelled Serbian coach said he was no longer surprised with the fans' reaction to the performance and the anger at coach Chot Reyes, having been in the country long enough to know the pressure that comes with the job.

      CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓
      Watch Now

      "With basketball in the Philippines, everybody is looking. I said one time, the Philippines is too much in basketball that you don’t have one national team coach, you have maybe 20 million coaches here. That’s the battle within the job.

      "Maybe the people expected more, but we have to be realistic. The competition was so tough, the group was so tough. I’m not that disappointed in the end with the result."

      SEE ALSO
      SEE ALSO

      But the veteran coach said he also understood the disappointment, pointing out that the talent available for Reyes in the World Cup team was a big, big upgrade from the pool of players that previous national coaches had to deal with.

      "Of course, Gilas can play better. If you remember in my time, the problem was size and (lack of) international exposure. Now, Gilas doesn’t have a problem with size. You have Kai Sotto, (June Mar) Fajardo, (AJ) Edu, Japeth (Aguilar).

      ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

      "And in a team that has six players playing outside the Philippines, six players playing in the PBA, that means that international exposure is not that big of a problem."

      rajko toroman mikey williams

      Toroman said all things considered, the World Cup campaign is a big step forward for Gilas, especially in terms of the talent available for the national team and the exposure the country's top players are getting overseas.

      ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

      "For Gilas, it will be good if few players will go to Europe and pick up that kind of international experience and those kinds of tactical things. And then I’ll think that Gilas will be ready to go for at least the Top 16 teams in the world.

      "Gilas made one step forward. Now they are closer to the world. These are positive things that we should think about after the World Cup. The Philippines is moving forward and that is the most important thing," Toroman added.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

      Read Next
      Watch Now
      Sorry, no results found for
    • POLL

      • Quiz

        Quiz Result