WINNING FORMULA

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THERE are some undeniable parallels between Leo Austria and the San Miguel Beer team he has just steered to the PBA Philippine Cup championship.

Strength of character, refusing to quit, defying the odds and sharing the unflappable belief of a passionate boss are just some of the similarities between the coach and his players that resulted in Austria and his Beermen copping the league’s most coveted crown in only their first conference together.

“Kaya nga kino-consider ko ang sarili kong very fortunate dahil I am blessed by these guys around me,” said Austria moments after SMB beat Alaska 80-78 last Wednesday in the seventh and deciding game of their title duel at the packed Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Without them, I don’t think na any of this would have been possible.”

It was the 20th title in all for the PBA’s winningest team, but marked the first time the Beermen won an all-Filipino diadem since 2001.

That’s why the celebrations spilled over from the court following the final buzzer and well into the next morning at a nearby hotel, where the coaches and players, members of their family, team officials and some of their fans congregated.

For Austria, it is his first title as a PBA coach, a job that started with Shell in 2004 and then again with Welcoat (currently Rain or Shine) in 2006. He actually came in as one of Todd Purves’ assistants in 2014, but that was a very brief stint.

The 1985 Rookie of the Year could have abandoned his dream of being a PBA head coach anew and almost did, for a time focusing his attention to being with Ateneo’s sports development program.

Then came a call from no less than San Miguel Corp. top honcho Ramon S. Ang late last July, giving him the job at the SMB helm.

It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“Very thankful talaga ako sa management, lalo na kay Boss RSA (Ang) dahil kung hindi dahil sa kanila hindi ako nagkaroon ulit ng opportunity na maging head coach sa PBA,” said the man who has won titles in the PBL and ABL.

“Iba talaga kasi ang feeling kapag nanalo ka dito sa PBA,” added Austria. “This is the best league in the country and to be a champion coach… iba talaga ang feeling!”

It didn’t hurt that Austria has the materials to work with, starting with two season MVPs in Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo, surrounded by Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter, Doug Kramer, Chris Ross, Ronald Tubid, rookies Ronald Pascual and David Semerad, to name a few.

“Nandiyan na talaga ang materyales, but the work of molding them into one cohesive unit was the real task,” said Austria.

The efforts Austria, his staff and players put in readily showed as the Beermen opened up the conference with three straight wins. Another five-game streak and a handy victory over Blackwater gave them the top ranking at the end of the eliminations and an outright semifinals berth.

Even an equally talent-laden team in Talk ‘N Text proved no match for SMB as the latter swept their best-of-seven series and seemed headed for an unimpeded way to the crown.

But Alaska had other plans.

Using a freewheeling offense and stifling defense punctuated by fullcourt pressure that netted them six wins in their initial assignments, the Aces either led or tied for the lead throughout the eliminations before winding up at No. 3 due to an inferior PBA quotient.

Victories over NLEX and Meralco in the quarterfinals pumped up Alaska in its matchup with Rain or Shine in the semis, a duel that lasted just six games as the likes of Calvin Abueva, JVee Casio, Sonny Thoss and Dondon Hontiveros came through with clutch performances.

Such collective efforts by Alaska spilled over into the Finals, when it came back from early huge deficits to win Games 1, 3 and 6.

In the deciding match, watched by almost 23,000 fans inside the Big Dome, it was practically the same storyline as the Aces fought back from a 23-point deficit at halftime to even take a six-point lead into the last 3:43 of the match.

This time, there would be no meltdown for SMB as it displayed its own mettle by waging its own gritty comeback, which Santos highlighted with a looping triple that made it a 79-78 count, only 43.7 ticks left.

Alaska’s chances, already dampened by poor free throw shooting, got dimmer when Thoss missed a drive in the next play which Santos translated into a charity that made it a two-point game, still 18 ticks left.

Abueva was set up for a play during Alaska’s ensuing timeout but “The Beast” let a 23-point, 15-rebound performance go to waste by missing a floater and a followup try.

Alaska’s last opportunities to steal the game came when Tubid was slapped a technical for calling a timeout SMB didn’t have and when Casio got the ball for a three-point try following a Fajardo-Abueva jump ball. Both times the Aces came up empty.

After his team received its runner-up trophy, Compton gamely went over to hug Austria and shake the hand of the man he served as assistant to in their Welcoat days.

“I told coach Alex, ‘Great job. Both of us deserve to win a championship but unfortunately there could only be one champion in this conference,'” related Austria.

There’s no need to point which one. (NC)

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