With Charles Tiu down with the flu, he needed someone he would trust to take the cudgels for him when College of Saint Benilde took on San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Friday.
The youthful head coach had three choices from his staff, his former high school head coach Carlo Tan, newcomer Marvin Bienvenida, or his trusted assistant Paolo Layug.
And it was Layug who stepped up to the plate.
The stats guru revealed that it was only at the last minute when Coach Charles Tiu looked for a temporary replacement for him.
“He wasn’t really feeling well this morning, he was actually in practice the last three days. And, he just said, he wasn’t feeling well today, so they decided Coach Pao, you guys will handle it today,” said Layug, a product of Ateneo de Manila University.
“So we just have a job to do, so we did our job. That’s all it is.”
In his NCAA coaching debut, Layug and the Blazers delivered.
Migs Oczon fired 25 points built on four treys and seven free throws. The twin tower combination of Will Gozum and Miggy Corteza imposed their will as well with the former tallying 23 points, four rebounds, and three blocks while the latter produced 18 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
More importantly, the Blazers secured their second win after scoring a 100-94 win.
Of course, Tiu was proud of his assistant and good pal.
“I am happy for him he did well today. He followed the game plan we wanted and did a good job,” expressed Tiu, who watched the game at home.
“Of course, I got worried at the end game but that’s on the players to make good decisions.”
Meanwhile, Layug was grateful for the opportunity, paying tribute to both Tiu and former Benilde head coach TY Tang.
“I think it’s a credit to Coach Charles and also Coach TY when he first came in. They empower us coaches; us assistant coaches. And, Coach Charles has a full trust in our entire coaching staff, it’s really a collaborative effort. I don’t know if you guys are looking at the bench earlier, but I was really talking to coach Carlo, coach Gabby [Severino], coach Marv [Bienvenida] a lot; they really gave a lot of input,” shared Layug, who has been with Benilde since NCAA Season 92.
“It was a team effort as well for the coaching staff to try and figure this game out.”
Tiu, meanwhile, hopes that Layug finally catches his big break.
“Obviously, I have more experienced and veteran coaches in my staff, but this is part of the growth I wanted to give Coach Paolo when I asked him to stay with our staff as my first assistant,” said Tiu, who has also brought Layug along during his stints in Nueva Ecija and Mighty Sports.
” He is very passionate about his coaching and I hope he gets a bigger break some day.”
