Coach Rajko Toroman brought respectability back to international Philippine basketball. In the last yera and a half, the Smart Gilas team has made it to the top four in each of the international tournaments they played in.
At the FIBA-Asia Championships, they came within 1 minute of a bronze medal and a slot in next year's Olympic qualifiers.
Philippine basketball also rose to #45 in the world, from #53, the third biggest rise in ranking behind Macedonia and Great Britain.
And yet he now leaves the country without a contract extension.
Toroman has been phenomenal, transforming a uni-dimensional shooter Chris Tiu into a brainy defender and willing rebounder, molding a tentative Marnel Baracael into a stretch forward with three point range, Japeth Aguilar into tough defending big man with a mid range shot and JV Casio into arguably one of Asia's top point guards.
Chot Reyes's name has been mentioned as a possible replacement. And, with all due respect to Chot, I say their is currently no local coach who can out-train and out-coach Rajko Toroman. He's like the Bear Bryant of international basketball. He can take his and beat yours then take yours and beat his. Letting him go is not just a step backwards. It's like jumping off a 40-story building and hoping you learn how to fly before you reach the pavement.
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