NA-OVERWHELM KAMI – AUSTRIA
After dropping another big game to Talk ‘N Text on Wednesday, San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria reluctantly accepted his team’s fate and left their fortunes to the dreaded quotient system.
“Yun na lang ang pag-asa eh,” he said, as the 113-93 defeat dropped the Beermen to 3-7, leaving just a teeny weeny glimpse of hope for San Miguel to make it to the playoffs.
San Miguel is pinning its chances on a win in their final game of the conference against GlobalPort, while wishing that other teams in the logjam won’t get to five wins and that the quotient system would work in their favor.
“Sana yung players, di mag-isip ng bakasyon dahil summer time ngayon. I think we have to evaluate what’s really happening to our team,” Austria said.
It has been a tough and emotional conference for San Miguel to say the least, to the point that even Arwind Santos’ mother, Araceli, had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering an asthma attack and profusely bleeding from her nose while watching the Beermen’s game against the Tropang Texters.
Still looking at the big picture, Austria admitted that the team is definitely at fault in this woeful conference, as they failed to prepare better after their Philippine Cup conquest.
“Ang biggest lesson sa amin after we won the championship, sana nag-isip na kami ng lahat ng pwedeng mangyari,” he said. “Na-overwhelm kami eh.”
Austria continued, “For me, talagang lack of preparation yung sa second conference dahil nag-dip yung conditioning namin, then yung other teams nag-load. Ang taas ng nilalaro nila tapos kami nasa baba. We tried to keep on catching up, pero nakakapagod eh. Physically, emotionally, mentally, yung team nasa game eh, pero talagang pagod. Ako nga na di naglalaro, it took me two weeks to recover. Pano pa sila?”
The grizzled veteran coach said that this should serve as a lesson for the 2015 Philippine Cup champs, saying, “Kailangan naming mag-sacrifice. Nanggaling kami sa championship, sobrang pagod ang katawan pero kailangan naming maglaro kasi trabaho namin ‘to.”
“We’re professionals. Kailangan naming ibigay lahat ng makakaya namin. Yun ang sacrifice.” (RL)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
