Courtside with Rajko Toroman

Posted by Jaemark Tordecilla on March 14, 2011 at 14:30 | Comments (12)

Rajko Toroman doesn't look terribly happy to see me.

A couple of weeks ago, after his team won against Alaska, Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman name-checked this blog in his postgame interview. So when I went to The Arena last Saturday to watch the nationals against the retooled San Miguel Beermen, I made sure to have a quick chat with him before the game with the help of Gilas Insider.

“That’s your blog, huh?” the coach asked after I was introduced as the man behind Fire Quinito. “So what’s new with Noli?”

I chuckled at his question about the former SBP executive director – Toroman probably knew about my history with Eala.

I asked Coach Rajko if he’s worried that his players will pick up bad habits in the PBA, where teams play a decidedly different style than what he’ll be facing in international competition.

“No, because the way we play (in the PBA) is the way we want to play in international,” he said. “Like Marcus, he’s the most dominant big man in the league. But we don’t isolate him. We give him the ball when he’s in good position, but we don’t rely on him to score.”

Toroman added: “Marcus got 30 points in our last game (against Air 21), but he only had 17 touches. Imports in the PBA get 30 touches a game. We don’t want to do that.”

Comments (12) | Trackbacks (2)
Tags: Air 21 Express / Burger King Whoppers, Basketball, Philippine Basketball Association, San Miguel Beermen, Smart Gilas Pilipinas National Basketball Team

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Comments

#1 poponuts on 2011-03-14 14:53 (Reply)

Off-topic: the coach got a better hairline i guess...

#2 sirjhay on 2011-03-14 15:18 (Reply)

national beating...

oo nga no... balita ko ang tagal daw tumambay ng smb sa dugout after the game... nag-inuman ata... does anyone know what time sila umnational beating...

#3 rex on 2011-03-14 15:29 (Reply)

did you inform him avout his surname's filipino connotation?

#4 zoro on 2011-03-14 17:44 (Reply)

Great job coach Toroman.Gilas plas great basketball! Good luck on FIBA Asia.

#5 ako on 2011-03-14 21:11 (Reply)

they gave smb a magnitude 9 beating. ibang klase ang shooting and speed. smb is now a good target for the top 5 teams wanting to win. ang hina nang line up coupled with half court set up plays that seem to ignore the fact that thay dont have a reliable shooter anymore, and that means defense can gang up on their bigmen. coach ato needs to learn from tnt, he must try to improve on team ball movement and conditioning.ang boring manood nang games pag sila naglalaro.

#5.1 Jimbo 2.0 on 2011-03-14 22:25 (Reply)

That's why I was never in favor of SMB trading for Rabeh.

He does have a nice touch around the basket, when properly positioned .... but the guy is slow, lethargic & has hops that would make even Bong Hawkins blush.

He definitely wont be the answer to TnT - who will only get more faster & athletic when they get back a GILAS-trained Aguilar.

Since time immemorial, SMB has been stuffing itself with talent (moreso the past few years) with trades & transactions that defy all sense of fair play ..... Arwind Santos for Chris Calaguio anyone?

This appears to be karma-time for SMB.

#5.1.1 ako on 2011-03-15 00:00 (Reply)

HAHAHA.bilis nang karma! I hope lister can do something on Rabah's skill what norman black has failed to do. I also hope they can use baclao more, unless they plan to shift him to another team again(read sister act).wasted talent si baclao with his playing time.to be fair though, these rookies have tremendous upside and I hope they will blossom to maximize their potential in due time. Coach ato need to learn from last conference's loss to tnt. they ran out of steam and was simply predictable with their play. which brings me to ask what if chot is still coaching smb?just a thought.

#5.1.2 ginkingsfan on 2011-03-15 12:07 (Reply)

uhmm.. I think Arwind Santos was traded for Ken Bono, Mark Pingris and a draft pick..

#5.1.2.1 Jimbo 2.0 on 2011-03-15 15:41 (Reply)

My bad, it was indeed Bono & Pingris ..... either way it, was one among many SMB trades & deals which defies fair play.

I dont recall Bono ever playing for AIR21 - even if he did it wont make no difference. Hell, Bono cant even crack the regular rotation of a heavily depleted BARAKO team.

Pingris, was pre-destined to go back to BMEG .... with SMB using AIR21 as conduit just to make things technically "legal".

Back to SMB ..... for their sake, they should try to get more faster & athletic ..... TnT is stocking up on athletic bigs now & the near future.

#6 gilazkalz on 2011-03-16 00:33 (Reply)

Parang nasalanta ng magnitude 9 earthquake at tsunami sa 41 pts na tambak ng Gilas sa SMB...parang si Rabeh Al hussini lang ang gumagawa sa SMB eh bangko at water boy lang dati ng Gilas yun....di porket mga santo ang mga team na hinawakan ni coach Ato Agustin ay laging magmimilagro(san sebastian and san miguel)

#7 firejaemark on 2011-03-19 00:50 (Reply)

what a nerd . . Jeez I bet you can't even run a fullcourt without breathing heavily. . And you call yourself a basketball fan? You're just a nerdy fanboy who criticize others so that he can convince himself that he is "cool". Doucheness man.

#7.1 jaemark on 2011-03-19 01:20 (Reply)

two things:

1. you say nerd like it's a bad thing...

2. of course i'm cool. why else would you be reading my blog religiously? just this last month, you've commented four times on this blog ;)