San Miguel Beermen jead coach Leo Austria did not hide his disappointment towards import Troy Gillenwater, as the American underperformed for the second straight game Sunday night against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Antipolo.
Gillenwater only had 11 points and three rebounds, but what made his outing even worse is the fact that he got ejected from the game for good in the first half, as he apparently bumped one of the game’s officials in the shoulder.
That forced San Miguel to play all-Filipino in the second half and in overtime. The Beermen have the best local squad today, but having no enforcer made it tough for them in the end and they eventually lost, 123-119.
The defending champions are now 0-2.
“Compared to the other imports, we’re not impressed,” said Austria. “Pero yung first quarter niya, very impressive. First quarter lang. He should last at least 40 minutes per game but nakikita natin kanina, he’s so frustrated.
“What they experience right now is a different ballgame. Ina-underestimate yata nila ang PBA eh,” added the reigningCoach of the Year.
“We are in a different level.”
Austria and his deputies came out of their dugout late. The veteran mentor then bared that one of the reasons behind such was that they have assessed Gillenwater, but they have yet to come up with a decision on him.
That decision, however, might come out in the coming days, Austria said.
“Probably in a couple of days sana may result na,” shared Austria, a six-time champion strategist — all with San Miguel.
“The good thing is we still have five days if ever na magre-replace kami. For sure paguusapan namin yon.”
With that, a possibility that a new import will be with them this Saturday against the Alaska Aces in Dumaguete City is looming on the horizon.
“There’s a possibility,” Austria said. “But I’m not sure because we don’t know yet.
“Sabi ko nga, paguusapan pa namin.”
