After a couple of decades of trekking between the collegiate, regional, and professional leagues, San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria has finally hit the jackpot.
“For me, this is unbelievable,” Austria said after winning his first PBA title as head coach, steering San Miguel Beer to the 2015 Philippine Cup.
“I knew from the start that it’s very hard to beat Alaska. Kung may matigas ang ulo, sila ang may pinakamatigas na ulo, but I want to congratulate coach Alex Compton for a job well done,” speaking proudly of his former protege as they delivered a series for the ages, with Alaska and San Miguel going the distance in search of ending each franchise’s all-Filipino title drought.
For a while there, it appeared like it was going to be the same old story for the Beermen, going up big, this time by 23 points, and then faltering in the end.
“We were able to recover from their big rallies. Yung character ng players, they did not give up,” Austria said. “Last two minutes, down kami by six tapos naka-all kami at nakalamang. In the last possession, we bungled that opportunity, but unfortunately for them, they were not able to make it. Our defense just worked in the end.”
And good thing for them, the Spiderman was there to save the day.
“Arwind (Santos) did a great job in this series. He played really hard, June Mar (Fajardo) and Arwind,” Austria said.
Austria also bared the gamble he took, playing his two wards big minutes in the second half.
“In our team, sabi ko itodo ko na si June Mar at Arwind because in the past, ginagawa nila at kaya naman nila. This is a championship game and I don’t want to have a mismatch,” he said.
“It’s very obvious that were trying to do something na pwede kaming mawala, but the players, especially Arwind and June Mar, they told me, ‘Coach, this is ours.'”
And it was, with the Beermen finally hitting the jackpot as the night came to a close. (RL)
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