Toroman says Gilas still has lot to learn

Smart-Gilas coach Rajko Toroman said yesterday the national team will learn to play physical from the experience of competing in the PBA Philippine Cup but qualified it won’t mean roughhousing or banging bodies with the intent to hurt.

“In the Euroleague, the game is very physical but not dirty,” said Toroman. “Players use their bodies and legs but not their elbows or hands to hit others. There’s a big difference between playing physical and playing dirty.”

Toroman said he was taken aback by Burger King’s extremely physical play in the first half of the Whoppers’ 115-105 win over Gilas at the Araneta Coliseum last Friday.

“In my 46 years of watching basketball, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said the Serbian, noting he began to follow the sport when he was in fifth grade. “There were four flagrant fouls called against Burger King in the first half and I think two more should’ve been called because of the kind of contact that was made on our players. I couldn’t believe how our players were getting undercut and hit on the face with elbows.”

PBA chairman and Burger King representative to the Board of Governors Lito Alvarez arrived late for the game and reportedly went to the Whoppers dugout at halftime to reprimand the players. In the second half, no rough stuff was evident.

Toroman said the baptism of fire was a learning experience.

“We can’t be intimidated,” said Toroman. “The officiating is something we’ll have to adjust to. For instance, I noticed when we ran our pick-and-roll, the defender would hold on to our screener. That made it almost impossible for the screener to either roll to the basket or pop for a shot. I think out of about 30 pick-and-rolls we ran for the game, the defender was called for a foul just once.”

Despite Burger King’s physical play, the Whoppers were whistled for only 21 fouls compared to Smart-Gilas’ 32. Burger King went to the line for 41 free throws, converting 24, while Smart-Gilas took only 21 foul shots, sinking 15.

Smart-Gilas naturalization candidate C. J. Giles couldn’t get his rhythm with four fouls in the first half. He was called for his fifth personal after checking in during the third period and his sixth in the fourth. In all, Giles played only 22 minutes and five teammates logged more time. He finished with 12 points on 6-of-7 field goals and seven rebounds.

“They called it tight on C. J.,” lamented Toroman. “In the third period, he was called for pushing off Richard Yee in a rebound play. I think it was a flop because it wasn’t necessary for C. J. to push off Yee – he’s bigger and taller. Then, C. J. got his last foul, sealing Yee who did another flop like C. J. pushed him to get position.”

PBA media affairs bureau chief Willie Marcial said the game tape will be reviewed closely by league officials to look into possible lapses.

But Toroman said he’s not complaining.

“Burger King deserved to win,” he continued. “(Ronjay) Buenafe played a career game. He hit three-pointers about two or three feet from the new extended line. And (Gary) David exploded. But (Beau) Belga scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds was unforgiveable for us. We had a 13-point lead but we couldn’t hold on. Burger King also shot extremely well throughout the game – 60 percent from the field compared to our 47 percent. It’s hard to beat a team that shoots as well as that.”

Toroman said despite scoring 18 points, prized recruit Japeth Aguilar didn’t play up to par.

“Japeth played 37 minutes and got six rebounds while Belga played 31 minutes and got 11 rebounds,” said Toroman. “I told Japeth with his height, he has to play more inside and help under the boards. Instead, he took 10 three-point shots. Sure, he made four but we’d rather our big guy playing inside than outside. He sometimes looked a little lost on the court. He’s still adjusting to our system which gives a lot of space for our big guys outside – which is probably why he finds himself taking those three-point shots.”

Toroman said he’s not discounting the possibility that Aguilar was intimidated by Burger King’s physical play.

“Maybe, the referees should’ve anticipated it would be a physical game because of what happened when Smart-Gilas beat Powerade,” said a PBA fan. “Coach Yeng (Guiao) was out to prove a point.”

The game almost got out of hand with the succession of flagrant fouls called on Burger King. Even rookie Ronnie Matias was whistled for a flagrant. With emotions running high, Burger King’s Wynne Arboleda barged into the patron section to assault a heckling fan in the second period. After Arboleda was pulled back, he had to be restrained from attacking the fan once more as he was led out of the court.

The fan, identified as Alain Katigbak, was reportedly traumatized and shocked by the attack.

“He is also angry that he has been made to look like the guilty party rather than the victim in media,” said a source. “His version is plain and simple – he’s just a fan who wants to cheer for his team and have fun. He pays for his tickets. He has a five-year-old kid and his wife is six months into a critical pregnancy. He claims he never uttered profanities. But he admits telling Arboleda ‘matanda ka na – kung Powerade di manalo, kayo pa’ and ‘huwag kang manakit at national team ‘yan.’”

The source added that Katigbak will file charges in court.