At 5-1 and sitting atop the standings, Leo Austria is still looking for more from his San Miguel Beermen.
The two-time defending Philippine Cup champions have been on a roll lately, putting up impressive wins against the NLEX Road Warriors and Meralco Bolts before heading into the holiday break.
Still, the veteran head coach remains wary of his team’s form heading into the second half of the elimination round – a stretch he described as very challenging.
“Everybody’s expecting us to win so I told my players na ang responsibility niyo kailangan niyo panindigan dahil the second half of the elimination is really hard for us dahil makakalaban namin ‘yung mga probable top four teams in this tournament,” Austria said after holding his second practice of the New Year, Tuesday.
As with every year, Austria insists he trusts his players to maintain their physical conditioning throughout the holiday festivities.
San Miguel can ill afford to play with rust as they dive into a killer stretch in the schedule.
On Friday, the Beermen clash with the surprising Blackwater Elite before taking on Barangay Ginebra on Sunday. Then, they have the new-look Rain or Shine Elasto Painters next Friday.
“I think we’re on the right track dahil makikita mo naman ‘yung aura nila. Although nagbibiruan sila, what’s important is alam nila kung ano ‘yung gagawin dahil itong ginagawa namin the past few conferences and then maganda ‘yung kanilang camaraderie ngayon and then makikita na everybody’s in a good mood din,” the 58-year-old mentor shared.
As for whether his team’s at the level to win a championship, Austria admitted that they aren’t at their peak yet, but he’s confident his team can build towards their championship level.
“I want them to step up dahil alam natin na kailangan namin makarating doon sa right peak. Alam din natin na pabigat nang pabigat ‘yung kalaban. Malaki naman ang tiwala ko sa kanila kasi alam naman nila ang situwasyon namin,” the three-time PBA champion coach expressed, lamenting on his team’s shot at becoming three-time Philippine Cup champions — a feat only achieved by Talk ‘N Text. “I hope ma-realize na nila ‘yung importance nitong tournament na ‘to para sa amin. Dahil dinedefend namin ‘yung titles. And of course, what’s at stake is three consecutive All-Filipino championships, ma-duplicate sana namin.”
“Pero hindi ‘yun ang nasa vision namin. Right now, we have to win our next three or four games. The main is goal is to get into one of the two slots doon sa top two and mag-step-up naman kami para doon sa quarterfinals. We’re not at the right peak yet. Pero slowly, what we need now is to be consistent and to maintain what we’re doing now or better that.”
