The Toroman Assessment: "Gilas is Too Much for Indonesia"

For a Head Coach who once called the shot for Gilas Pilipinas during its early years, Rajko Toroman's assessment of how the 2020 edition of Gilas Pilipinas pretty much dominated the Toroman-mentored Indonesian team as the Filipinos carved out a 30-point beatdown against Indonesia in the Pinoys' first game of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

 While the Serbian mentor applauded the effort of his team who came within 4 points with 3 minutes left in the third quarter, Rajko Toroman eventually admitted to the fact: the quality of the players included in the Gilas team was simply too much for the Indonesians. And frankly, there was no subtle way to say that.

For starters, Indonesia played without its naturalized player in Lester Prosper while also missing the services of Indonesian-American player, Brandon Jawato.  On the other hand, Mark Dickel was able to utilize all of his 12 players even though most of the players are either in their second or third year in the PBA or, amateur players. Don't forget about Dwight Ramos who is still playing at the collegiate level. 

According to the 65-year old coach who led Gilas Pilipinas to a fourth-place finish in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, one of the major things that hurt his team was the fact that Thirdy Ravena torched the home team with his 23 big points. And while the 3-time UAAP Finals MVP isn't known for his sniping skills from the three-point line, he shot 3 for 4 from deep in last Sunday's win. 

Aside from the big numbers that Thirdy Ravena put up while coming off the bench, Toroman also pointed out that the Gilas that his team faced last Sunday was more athletic and that the Filipinos have more big men which explained the 55-33 edge that Gilas had in the rebounding department. In addition to this, Gilas was +17 in offensive rebounds which was a big difference because our national team was able to score 18 second-chance points from those offensive rebounds. 

In the end, Rajko Toroman made the notion that if both Prosper and Jawato are able to suit up, Indonesia can compete with everybody. Who knows? Prosper and Jawato might be able to suit up for the Indonesian side when they face Gilas Pilipinas anew on February 18, 2021 

Photo is from FIBA