Philippines - Serbian coach in RP to talk about improving local basketball
Rajko Toroman, the Serbian coach credited for turning Iran into an emerging power in Asian basketball, was part of the 22,900 spectators who watched the Ateneo Blue Eagles beat the La Salle Green Archers at the Araneta Coliseum last Sunday. "He’s amazed at the way the game of basketball is played here – the passion, the enthusiasm," according to Noli Eala, executive director of the Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP).
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Rajko Toroman, the Serbian coach credited for turning Iran into an emerging power in Asian basketball, was part of the 22,900 spectators who watched the Ateneo Blue Eagles beat the La Salle Green Archers at the Araneta Coliseum last Sunday.
"He’s amazed at the way the game of basketball is played here – the passion, the enthusiasm," according to Noli Eala, executive director of the Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP).
Toroman, he added, enjoyed the emotional game.
"He’s been watching many games and practices so far during his stay," Eala said. "He’s really impressed with the talent of Filipino players."
And what did Toroman think of the record crowd?
"Oh, he said he has never seen a crowd as large as the one that watched last Sunday," a smiling Eala added.
The 53-year-old Toroman is a guest invited by the BAP-SBP to discuss with local caging officials ways to further improve the country's basketball program.
He was once an assistant coach with the Yugoslavian national team and mentor of the Yugoslavian under-23 national squad.
Toroman took over the coaching reign of Iran just last year and immediately produced results by leading the team to the championship of the FIBA-Asia Men’s Basketball Championship in Tokushima, Japan.
It was at that tournament that the Iranians beat the Philippine Basketball Association-backed national five of coach Chot Reyes, 75-69, in a hotly-contested game in Group A.
The meet served as a qualifier for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Iran failed to win in all of its five assignments at the Olympiad, but from its ranks emerged the meet’s top rebounder and block shot artist in Hamed Haddadi.
The 7-foot-2 center averaged an Olympic best 11.2 rebounds and 2.6 block shots, numbers that dwarfed even the ones pulled off by Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, and Dwight Howard.
Haddadi has since been signed by the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.
Toroman will leave for Iran over the weekend.
Toroman has a son, Denis, who currently plays for Luka Koper in the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League