AUSTRIA PREACHES DEFENSE TO BEERMEN
Coach Leo Austria watched from the sidelines as his San Miguel Beermen executed the plays he formulated.
Preparing for the 40th season, Austria knows that bringing back the Beermen to thesir glory days might be a tall order, but he’s not saying it’s impossible.
And with the team slowly imbibing his system in the offseason, the seasoned coach reverted to an old saying as he prepared his wards for war.
Defense wins championships.
“You cannot win by offense alone,” Austria said. “Offense can give you a ticket, but just like San Mig Coffee, nasa middle sila sa offense, pero they won consecutive championships because of their defense.”
Playing in a couple of tuneups, Austria is getting good results despite still not having reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo in his rotation.
“So far, we’re doing well in implementing the system that I want especially on defense. I’m very particular on our defense. I want them to play according to the system, not through the individual defense nila.”
Going through a lot of changes in the past year, Austria acknowledges the early pains in handling the squad, but with enough patience and trust, he believes that this team can go to greater heights.
“I understand the players do not fully understand our plays that well yet, but we have another three weeks and we’ll get there. I hope June Mar will be back here because we have a lot of homework to do para sa kanya. Siya yung key player dito,” he said.
Austria added, “We want to be versatile. If we can outrun them, we will. If we can’t, magse-set kami ng plays because we have June Mar who can dominate the post. The only problem is recognition from these players. Sanay sila before ng dribble-drive, give-and-go, di nila nakikita yung advantage.” (RL)
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