SAN JUAN (William Rosario's Somewhere in the Americas) - I know the headline seems straightforward and simple, but don't fall into the trap. Eddie Casiano is the future for Puerto Rico in terms of the head coach position of the national team. There is no second option. I repeat, Casiano is the future.

I've had the opportunity to watch him closely as a head coach in the Preliminary Round and Semi-Final phase of the Liga de las Americas. And I'm convinced. This man can coach. He is tough, honest and direct and has become a student of the game, putting emphasis and prioritizing a right approach to basketball. His mantra is defense, defense, defense, letting it dictate everything, even the offensive system of the team.

Very impressive...

Especially when you look back to the player that was Eddie Casiano. This guy is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in the history of Puerto Rican basketball (no easy list to get into). His talent was incredible, a sharp-shooter like no other. The release of his jump-shot is legendary: super high, two-footed, left-handed beauty. Casiano could score on anybody.

But his defense and work ethic were horrible. He had discipline problems on and off the court, wasn't very fond of practice and had a hard-time putting team over individual stats. He was internationally known as a very selfish and very difficult player that was as talented as anyone in the game.

So to watch him now and to see what he has achieved since he decided to become a head coach is startling.

Casiano debuted as a head coach in 2009 at the helm of the Indios de Mayaguez (still his current team) in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in Puerto Rico. As a rookie, he was selected Coach of the Year. He won the championship for Mayaguez just two years later. Quick turnaround to say the least.

Then came Mexico. Casiano was recruited to become the head coach of Halcones Rojos de Veracruz in 2011. In that first year, he took the team to its first-ever national championship. And then repeated the feat last season.

Three championships in two countries in five years. The record with Halcones Rojos alone is 164 wins and 30 losses, numbers that make it very hard to doubt his ability to coach. But I still had my doubts. Luckily his team made it to the Liga de las Americas due to last year's championship.

Now, I have to confess, I am a supporter. This guy is a good coach and an excellent leader with a no-nonsense approach. He gets his message across to the team and they do anything for him. It's incredible to watch.

I say it for the third time in this column and with confidence: he's the future of the Puerto Rico national team as a head coach. But let me be very emphatic on the term 'future'. This is why I plead to Puerto Rico's national federation to not hire him. This is not his time.

The federation is in the midst of a free-fall. After the Spain 2014 debacle, the management decided to change the national team structure. Now there will be a sport director and a general manager. A good move… on paper. But then they made a press conference that left everyone dumbfounded.

The sport director made two bombastic statements. First, he said that the priority of the national team would be to reintegrate Peter John Ramos to the national team program and go after Maurice Harkless and Shabazz Napier to have them be a part of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship. That one is worth a column of its own and I'll just say I find it horribly misguided to use the words 'priority' and the names Peter John Ramos, Maurice Harkless and Shabazz Napier in the same sentence. There's nothing new in that approach.

Then, his second statement was even more shocking. He said that the new head coach was to only be a head coach for two, three (max) tournaments. The 2015 FIBA Americas Championship and either the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament or the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics if they made it. Unbelievable. This would mean that since 2011, no coach would be given the chance to complete the four-year cycle. Flor Melendez and Paco Olmos were fired after two years each, and the new one would also be let go after two… a recipe for disaster.

Puerto Rico has been accused of impatience, of being unable to develop players within the country and not establishing a clear playing philosophy. How can this two-year deal help?

And this is where I go back to Casiano, who is widely recognized as the obvious Puerto Rican choice for the job. I say he is perfect… for 2017. The island needs a guy that can be there for every competition window, helping the young players develop and gain confidence on the biggest stage of all, the national team. Casiano will be great for this.

To have him be the head coach of the national team this year is to play with fire.

Puerto Rico are not favorites or even top contenders to make it to the Rio Games this year in Monterrey. The national team is in transition. The depth chart of available players is not inspiring. So why burn him out? If Casiano gets the job and does not qualify the team to the Olympics, with this current national team managerial structure, he will be out and the future will be dead.

So let Sergio Valdeolmillos or Jose Neto take the job. This is not the moment for Eddie.

In a press conference to launch the Semi-Finals of the 2015 DIRECTV Liga de las Americas, half-jokingly Casiano let his process be known: "My thing is coaching young players that never saw me play."

It was a good laugh. Everybody knew immediately what he meant. I liked the fact that he's self-aware and real about the new position he's in. It also left me in no doubt that he will be the right man to lead Puerto Rico under the new competition system in 2017, when patience will be mandatory.

William Rosario

FIBA

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