After an unceremonious early exit in the Commissioner’s Cup, San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria is hoping that the extended break has allowed the Beermen to reassess themelves from the woeful second conference experience.
“In terms of physical conditioning, our team is better than the last conference. Yung cohesiveness, nagsisimula na namin makuha. Pero I’m not yet satisfied. I want to push them to the limit,” he said. “Pag at par kami sa conditioning ng kalaban namin, I think we have the advantage.”
Spending more time with reinforcement Arizona Reid has allowed Austria and his squad to better incorporate the dreadlocked import to the way San Miguel handles things. And based on the initial returns, the long preparation is showing early positive signs.
“I think chemistry is very important to any team. At least two months na si AZ dito and he’s already familiar sa ginagawa namin. Parang local player na rin sya in terms of the knowledge of our system,” the heady coach said.
Still talking about Reid, Austria added, “He’s getting used to our system, pero may kulang pa. But we’re on our way dun sa gusto naming ma-achieve sa bawat isa and we’re understanding what we want from each other.”
Being one of the six teams to not field an Asian reinforcement in the Governors’ Cup, Austria believes that the Beermen already have the pieces to contend with the rest of the league and adding another foreign body to their roster might just interfere with the team’s flow.
“Very skillful yung mga wingmen ko. The same lang kung kukuha kami ng Asian import. It will take time for the Asian import to adjust here, kaya I’m already happy dito sa mga players ko,” he said.
“I’d rather not mess up with the team and the management is supporting my decision.” (RL)
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