Ariel Vanguardia will be surrounded by familiar faces on the sidelines now that he is set to call the shots for Blackwater in an interim capacity.
The veteran mentor said that the Bossing coaching staff is almost complete, with long-time assistant Tino Pinat to serve as his lead deputy.
The two have worked many times in the past. Among their stints were with Westports Malaysia Dragons in the ASEAN Basketball League and with Phoenix Fuel in the PBA that saw them steer the team for a season.
Then there’s also that short campaign in Macau in 2018, when they coached the amateur-laden iECO Green Warriors in Asia League’s The Terrific 12. That team was also backed by Blackwater team owner Dioceldo Sy.
Helping out Vanguardia and PInat in the Bossing are bench tacticians who have been with the franchise for some time now.
Gilas Women head coach Pat Aquino, Aris Dimaunahan, and Junjie Ablan complete the staff.
Dimaunahan had once served as Blackwater’s interim mentor back in 2019 that saw him steer the club to a team-best finish in the Commissioner’s Cup. Also during that time. Aquino was temporarily serving as team manager.
“Ang sure pa lang, si Coach Tino. ‘Yung mga holdovers si Coach Aris, Coach Junjie, at si Coach Pat Aquino,” Vanguardia told Tiebreaker Times.
A strength and conditioning coach, though, has yet to be named as Vanguardia said that both camps are still in the midst of negotiations.
“This is a lean but mean coaching staff,” said the former college coach, who is also Blackwater’s alternate governor to the board.
This comes after the Bossing’s top brass decided to dismiss four other coaches after relieving Racela, who compiled a 2-19 record. Rommel Adducul, Gilbert Lao, Jem Ryn Betia, and Benjie Sipin were the ones let go.
