COACH Mensur Bajramovic has reunited with old friends during Eastern's stint in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Bajramovic revealed that he is good friends with two foreign coaches who have made a career in the Philippines - former Gilas Pilipinas coaches Rajko Toroman and Nenad Vucinic, who are not both active in the pro league.
“Coach Toroman is my friend, but my biggest friend is actually Coach Nenad from Meralco,” said the 59-year-old coach from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Toroman was the pioneer coach of the Gilas national team program who is now holding consultant jobs with Converge, Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the MPBL, and Saint Benilde in the NCAA. Vucinic is the active consultant of Meralco.
Bajramovic said because of his friendship with the two coaches especially Vucinic, he has become familiar Philippine basketball and the PBA, where Vucinic recently won a championship with Meralco in the 2024 Philippine Cup.
“We were together since our young ages,” said Bajramovic of Vucinic. “We didn’t talk too much about basketball before.”
“Because of him, I’m following (Philippine basketball) even before we made the decision to join this league. I’m following (for) a few seasons. I watch the games and know a lot about Philippine basketball,” said Bajramovic.
Bajramovic coached the Bosnian national team from 2004 to 2005, and again from 2008 to 2010. He also handled club team Jalaa Sporting Club in Syria where he had an opportunity to compete in a tournament in the Philippines.
“I have been already here in one Asian final eight club (tournament) 2008 I think with the Middle East team, Syrian team. Then, I was with some camps and there were friends of course,” said Bajramovic, who has already led Hong Kong Eastern to a crown this year in their domestic league.
Prior to the Hong Kong stint, Bajramovic coached Al Nassr BC, which plays in the Saudi Arabia domestic league and FIBA’s West Asia Super League.
Bajramovic’s coaching debut in the PBA was a successful one after he led Eastern to a 102-87 win over Phoenix for the early lead in the conference where they are the guest team.
Incidentally, Eastern’s next game will be against Toroman’s Converge on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“I know it’s going to be a tough game for sure,” said Bajramovic. “Each game is going to challenge us. And for us, each win is big for this team. We will try to represent as the best and of course, we will try to win each game we can.”
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