COACHES TO PULL OFF SOME ALL-STAR TRICKS & SURPRISES
Going to their first PBA All-Star Game, both San Miguel coach Leo Austria and Alaska mentor Alex Compton know the privilege they’ve been handed to steer the North and South teams in the midseason showcase.
“I’m happy to experience this. I’ve never been to an All-Star Game as a player eh,” said the Beermen coach. “I think we have to enjoy this because this is the only way we can give back to the fans.”
Compton, meanwhile, is already looking forward to this momentary break from the action, saying, “Coaching the All-Star Game, that will involve less effort than coaching Alaska because that’s not like we’re going to put a lot of system.”
“It’s fun, it’s for the fans and I’m not going to stress myself about that one. I’ve been stressed out by so many things already.”
The American coach is already plotting ways of maximizing his tall Southern roster.
“Lets see if we can put Asi (Taulava) and Greg (Slaughter) pressing like Alaska does. Maybe we’ll post Jimmy (Alapag) up. Who knows?,” he said.
“Maybe we can put the big guys at the three-point line, or put Jimmy in the post and see if they would double him, and he would kick it out to either Greg, or Asi. It’s the reverse-Ramos play,” giving a nod to Kia’s towering import PJ Ramos.
The two coaches were selected after taking their wards to the Finals of the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup.
For his part, Austria wants to evenly distribute the minutes to the North All-Stars and try to topple the giant combo of the South. And he already sees a chink in their armor.
“There’s an advantage and disadvantage for them eh, but I think (three big guys) won’t work kasi they don’t have outside shooting eh. Kami, we have Calvin Abueva, Marc Pingris, Japeth Aguilar, at Arwind Santos, so mas athletic. But what we’ll do is more of free-wheeling style but controlled play,” he said.
And don’t think that these guys are just all about the fun, they want to win this game badly with bragging rights on the line.
“All of the players deserve to be in there so definitely, they would want to play there to win,” said Austria. (RL)
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