MANILA, Philippines — Gilas young ward Dwight Ramos drew high praise from Indonesian head coach Rajko Toroman with his fine play so far in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Asked which Gilas cager surprised him the most in the tournament, the former Gilas Pilipinas coach named the Ateneo Blue Eagles commit and raved about just how effective Ramos can be.
Related Stories
"I think that the biggest surprise for me, not (only) looking today but looking at the tournament in Bahrain in the first game is Dwight Ramos," said Toroman after their 76-51 loss against Gilas on Friday.
"He's looking like a European player, with size and very tough and athletic who can shoot the ball," he added.
Ramos was a revelation to the Gilas program in the Bahrain bubble when he shot a perfect 7-of-7 game from the field on the way to 20 points in their 93-69 blowout over Thailand in Manama back in November.
While the 22-year-old hasn't replicated those numbers in the Clark bubble, the young gun continues to facilitate for the all-cadet squad.
"[He's] a really big prospect from Gilas," Toroman said.
The efforts of Ramos also didn't escape Tab Baldwin, who raved about his performance in the Indonesia game where he showed hustle and a sense of urgency against the Indons.
"I thought that Dwight had an exceptional game, you know, that can get lost in the fact that there wasn't cohension out there," said Baldwin.
"Dwight's performance, again, it points out that he's a player that's pretty comfortable at any level of basketball," he added.
Ramos and the rest of the Gilas cadets close out their FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers on Sunday when they face South Korea anew at 3:00 p.m. at the AUF Gym in Pampanga.