Every place is Ginebra country
San Miguel Beermen head coach Leo Austria was born in Sariaya in the province of Quezon. And the three-time PBA champion coach has been granted another opportunity to come home, as the Quezon Convention Center, which is exactly 39 kilometers away from his hometown, will play host to Game Two of their Finals series against Ginebra.
“It’s a good thing the PBA will play Game Two in Quezon,” a grateful Austria said.
A year ago, Austria and the Beermen also played in Lucena during Game Three of their Philippine Cup Finals series against the Alaska Aces. San Miguel lost the game, 75-82, however, to fall down to 0-3. But what came afterwards was the start of their epic Beeracle run.
This time around though, he is facing the league’s darlings, Barangay Ginebra. Just like any other court they play on, the 58-year-old mentor believes that the majority of the crowd are pro-Ginebra.
“But Lucena City and Quezon, Ginebra country iyan,” Austria furthered.
During the past three years, the Gin Kings have played twice in the Quezon Convention Center. They routed the KIA Sorento, 87-55, back in 2014, and handily defeated the Meralco Bolts, 107-93, last July 30, 2016. Both games were also box office hits, as the arena was literally filled to the rafters.
Austria remains hopeful that the crowd will eventually side with his team, especially if they perform at a high pace like they did during their 109-82 beat down of Ginebra last Friday.
“If we play like we played, I think mapapatahimik namin yung crowd and they will cheer for us,” Austria quipped.
