Maybe, time really heals old wounds.
Former Australian Men’s National Basketball Team head coach Andrej Lemanis shared that if an offer comes his way from the Samahang Basketbol Pilipinas to coach Gilas Pilipinas, he would not hesitate to say yes to it.
“All options are always on the table.
“As a coach, you always got to keep your options open cause it’s a profession. It is what it is. You got to go where the jobs are and the job is tenuous and every coach is a day away from being fired. Every option is always something you explore,” said the Australian-Latvian tactician during the Hoop Coaches International Webinar by Blackwater last Wednesday.
Lemanis is no stranger to Philippine basketball.
During the first round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, Australia defeated Gilas Pilipinas twice. The first was an 84-68 win in Melbourne followed by an 89-53 win in the infamous fracas in Bocaue.
In the World Cup proper, the 51-year-old tactician steered Australia to a fourth-place finish.
Despite his success, Lemanis was let go by Basketball Australia last November.
Lemanis shared that despite the ending to their second encounter, he admired how the Filipino cagers played. Moreover, just like everyone else, he fell in love with the passion of both the players and the fans.
“What immediately stood out was the energy with which they played, how hard they played, and the passion which they played which I really liked. I really liked those aspects and those attributes. I thought they were really skilled as well,” said the three-time NBL champion coach.
“One of the things that I’m not aware of or underappreciated before I got in the international stage was how big basketball is in the Philippines. And it’s just awesome to be involved in an environment like that and to see how much it means to everyone in the Philippines, and I think that translates in the national team.”
Australians are definitely much taller than Filipinos. Same could be said about the Boomers and Gilas.
Despite having a more rugged system compared to what Gilas had been running under the likes of Chot Reyes, Tab Baldwin, and, later on, Yeng Guiao, Lemanis believes his system will still be a fit to Gilas.
“I’ve run it in many different environments with many different players and again, it can be successful as long as it’s encouraged for the players to play to their strengths and make reads, and then the skill of the coach is to ensure that the players are playing in the positions or running the variations that most suit the guys that you have,” he opined.
“I think it’s more about the players being able to read the game, the fundamentals of the game, being able to read what the defense is doing, what is my advantage, what my teammates have done and how do I space off this and having the patience to do that. And also being willing to play as a team,” he continued.
“As long as the guys are prepared to buy into what’s best for the team, then anything can be successful really. It’s all about playing basketball and being spaced and making basketball plays and reads.”
