COACH LEO A WANTS BALANCE, DEFINED ROLES FOR BEERMEN
Come the 40th season of the PBA, the league’s winningest team will once again welcome a new chief strategist at the sidelines.
Leo Austria is now tasked to handle the head coaching reins for the San Miguel Beermen after an uneventful 39th season which saw them booted out of the quarterfinals twice.
Austria, 56, will take over from coach Biboy Ravanes and active consultant Todd Purves.
“We agreed sa mga pinagusapan and I just wanted them to do the announcement formally. We’ll have a meeting next week about the staff and titingnan namin kung sino ang makakatulong sa chemistry ng team,” Austria said in a short chat with pba.ph. “I am thankful sa management, especially kay RSA (SMC president Ramon S. Ang), boss Robert (Non), and boss Alfrancis (Chua) na pinagkatiwalaan nila ako as a coach.”
Austria kept a tight lip about the coaching staff for San Miguel Beer, saying that next week’s meeting will be key in the formation of his staff.
“Ang daming coaches sa San Miguel. So what we are looking for is kung sino ang makakatulong sa team. Ok naman ako kahit sino basta’t hindi sila makaka-distract sa progress ng team,” said Austria, who is currently holding a top position in the Ateneo sports program.
The seasoned coach admitted that the Beermen underperformed last season despite having a stellar cast, but believes that team chemistry should be the top priority for them this coming season.
“Kung titingnan mo yung San Miguel in the last two conferences, maganda naman yung nilaro nila, but they had difficulty facing tougher opponents like Air21 and San Mig Coffee. Everybody expects us to be at the top every conference kasi malakas yung lineup namin. I think may advantage kami in every position, but what needs to be done is ma-define yung role ng bawat player,” he explained.
Austria hinted that player movements might be in the horizon, but he said that the team will stick with their “class A” players for now.
“Di namin kailangan ng scorer. What we need is balance, kasi may tendency yung players namin na magsarili at times. We want a complete lineup na legitimate threat whenever they are on the floor, whether it may be offensively or defensively,” Austria said.
He added, “Ang kailangan namin is hindi kami lagi nag-aadjust. In my style, ayaw ko na nakadepende sa kalaban yung adjustment namin. Dapat sila ang mag-adjust sa style namin.” (RL)
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