Two-time PBA Best Import, Arizona Reid has been all about winning and trying to lead his team to greater heights as he did with his past teams in the PBA.
Seeing San Miguel Beermen struggle with an 0-4 start when he arrived, pushed him to carry them back into the playoff conversation. Although the Beermen fell short, Reid still averaged 29.4 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 3.9 APG in the seven games he played to push the team above .500 (4-3).
“I can’t control what happened before I got here. My job was to control what happened when I got here. Like what I told the [courtside] reporter earlier, I felt we should have been 6-1 instead of 4-3,” Reid said.
“Am I disappointed? Of course, because I want to play basketball. But this team had a tough time bouncing back from the championship they had. Like what Coach [Leo Austria] said, no excuses in the third conference. I didn’t have excuses for this conference. When they were 0-4, I’ll take that because I am part of the team. When they’re down, I’m down. When I got here I wanted to make them better, and I tried hard.”
Reid led the Elasto Painters all the way to the finals in last season’s Governors’ Cup. During the finals of the conference, he pushed San Mig Coffee to the limit before falling short in the best-of-5 series.
Now with the San Miguel franchise, Reid hopes to do the same, and help his team recover in the next conference after a dismal performance in the Commissioner’s Cup.
“I am looking forward to the third conference. I want to be stronger and work on my game. We will have more time to prepare. I am thankful for the SMB family for having me and I am blessed to be in this situation. Everybody will be fresh and ready. There will be no excuses,” he said.
Having the winning attitude he always possessed, Reid even vowed he will lead the team, and they will not start flat.
“We will not start 0-4 next conference, I guarantee that. We start 0-4, send me home. There are a lot of things they say to the team that I don’t like,” he added. “They say SMB is struggling, this and that. So what? Michael Jordan struggled. Kobe Bryant struggled. It happens to the best of us. We will be back stronger. Whatever happened to us this conference is behind us.”
Teams have an overall PBA record of 29-25 (.537) when facing Reid, and for the South Carolina native, the third conference is about moving forward for San Miguel.
“My mentality never changed. Even if we lost, I feel like we won because we will have more time to prepare. I did well in the seven games here, and we will be ready for the third conference. I am not overconfident, I am just confident with my team. I played against these guys and I know what they can do.”
