San Miguel’s breakthrough win in the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup at the expense of NorthPort Sunday left a lot to be desired for head coach Leo Austria.
The champion mentor didn’t like how the Beermen finished the match. Well, they practically needed luck in the endgame after being in command the majority of the match that saw them lead by as many as 27 in the third canto.
And the fact that they nearly yielded to a Batang Pier crew that did not have import Cameron Forte due to an injury makes it tougher to take for him.
“There’s no import, so we said let’s attack them from start to finish and that’s what happened,” he said after their 91-88 escape. “The problem eh ‘yung closing out. ‘Yun yung gusto naming mawala, yung tendency naming mag-relax.”
Being their coach, Austria knows where exactly the problem lies. He admitted that his wards are still adjusting to life without the ‘Death Five.’
The Beermen surprisingly broke its Hall of Fame starting unit back in the mid-season break. They traded away 2013 MVP Arwind Santos to NorthPort for Vic Manuel, and then Alex Cabagnot to Terrafirma for Simon Enciso.
So, that changed the team’s rotation. Terrence Romeo and CJ Perez are scoring champions who have wholly accepted their role as shock troopers off the bench upon arrival to the storied ball club. Now, though, they have been injected into the first five.
In fact, they’ve started twice three games into the conference, together with reigning six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter.
That, however, means losing production from the bench. And Austria frankly admitted that his second unit isn’t ready to fill in their shoes yet.
“Because of our rotation, sometimes ‘yung off-the-bench are not ready para matapatan ‘yung level of effort ng first group. And that’s one thing that we’re trying to figure out and adjust,” he said.
“Before, the second group was always our strength. Imagine before, CJ off the bench and Mo [Tautuaa] and Terrence at the time produce 40 points per game. But now, they are the starters because of the movement of players.”
Chemistry is also something that San Miguel is working on, since it is trying to integrate newcomers Manuel and Enciso into its scheme of things.
The ‘Muscle Man,’ though, has said previously that he won’t have much of an issue meshing. And to prove that, he had a hand in their first win. He tallied 10 points, five rebounds, and an assist in 13 minutes off the bench.
“They’re trying to adjust and get some chemistry for them to get to the flow of the game. Because before, our team was just like ano eh, may auto-pilot. But this time, they have to adjust to the system,” Austria said.
The conference, though, is still early. And the 63-year-old bench tactician is optimistic that San Miguel will be able to sort things out sooner.
“I think in the next few games, we could address that matter.”
