THE INAUGURAL BALLER AWARDS: THE BEST PBA COACH OF 2013
In lieu of a PBA year-ender, I felt it would be better to go position-by-position and look at the best PBAers of 2013. These are the guys who did really well in the pro circuit. Perhaps they led their teams to conference titles. Perhaps they led the league in a certain statistical category. Perhaps they were part of Gilas Pilipinas and helped the team make history. Perhaps they did all of those things.
In this post, we will give a Baller Award to the Best PBA Head Coach of 2013.
The Coach Nominees:
Norman Black – Talk N Text and Gilas Pilipinas (assistant coach)
After earning his fifth straight UAAP title for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in 2012, coach Norman Black wasted no time getting back on the sidelines, this time calling the shots for the Talk N Text Tropang Texters in the PBA. He helmed TNT in its championship-clinching Philippine Cup campaign last season, which was historic because it was the third Philippine Cup in a row for them. He was also part of the brain trust of Gilas Pilipinas, helping coach Chot Reyes by scouting the opposition.
Yeng Guiao – Rain or Shine
Guiao didn’t win any titles this past season and his Painters failed to defend their Govs’ Cup crown, but the fiery bench tactician still had a good year. He steered Rain or Shine to its first Philippine Cup Finals appearance and still kept them competitive despite having a few guys do double-duty because of national team commitments (Beau Belga, Jeff Chan, and Gabe Norwood). That alone means coach Yeng should be on this list.
Luigi Trillo – Alaska
The young coach really stepped out of coach Tim Cone’s shadow this past season, highlighted, of course, by Alaska’s championship sweep in the 2013 Commish Cup. He was able to reign in his… interesting rookie sensation (Calvin Abueva), maximize his young backcourt (JV Casio and RJ Jazul), squeeze out more from his veterans (Sonny Thoss and Cyrus Baguio), and unleash his superb import (Rob Dozier). Result? First post-Cone title for the franchise. And now? Coach Trillo has everyone’s attention.
Gee Abanilla – Petron Blaze
Here’s what makes Abanilla’s performance last season quite impressive: he was “moved” from the De La Salle Green Archers to the Petron Blaze Boosters quite abruptly. He had to acclimatize himself to heading a PBA team, to balancing pro egos, and helping develop the current most impressive center in the league. His Petron squad eventually advanced to the Govs’ Cup Finals as the favorite, but squandered a 2-1 lead and lost in 7 games. Currently, his team has won 7 of 9 games and is second in the standings. Not too shabby.
Tim Cone – San Mig Super Coffee
It seemed ironic that Alaska won its first title post-Cone this past season and then coach Cone actually wins his own title with his new team in the very next conference. In a way, both camps won. The third conference crown was extra sweet for coach Tim, whose Mixers lost in the 2012 Govs’ Cup to the Elasto Painters. Coach Cone steered his squad into overhauling a 1-2 series deficit and, consequently, he annexed his second crown after leaving Alaska (15th overall PBA title to boot!).
And the BALLER goes to…
NORMAN BLACK
I like the stories of both Luigi Trillo and Tim Cone – the former taking over from the latter and winning a title and then the latter winning his own title afterwards. Yes, it is a little confusing, but it also really happened. Norman Black, however, has an even better story. He leaves a legendary coaching career in the collegiate ranks, he wins again at the pro level by copping the most prestigious PBA conference title, and then plays a major role in Gilas Pilipinas’s awesome drive to the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
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