“Makakapahinga na tayo.”
Coach Leo Austria has been much-maligned all throughout the season about the way he had spread the minutes of the San Miguel Beermen. The criticisms revolved around how brutal it is for a player to play those kinds of minutes and how it shortens a player’s mileage.
And the now-four time PBA champion coach hears them. All throughout the conference — his seventh with the SMC franchise — he tried to make light of it, even throwing humor on it.
“Kami kasi we try to emulate the Cleveland Cavaliers,” he quipped during one of San Miguel’s 10 elimination round wins. “Sila nga they play their players more than 35 minutes a game.”
Their first true challenge of the season came during their grueling seven-game semifinals series against the TNT Katropa. Many thought that the sins of his system would finally haunt him. But in the end, they were able to survive.
Sunday evening, Austria was vindicated. San Miguel were able to capture their third straight Philippine Cup crown, taking a 91-85 win against Ginebra. And the native of Sariaya, Quezon did it his way.
“I’ve been criticized a lot before for using these key players. They’re averaging 36 minutes in the elimination round, and in the finals it went up to 38 minutes.
“The one thing na positive dito sa five key players, both on offense and defense, nagwo-work sila. Nakabuo ako ng core na sinasabi nila are the best starters in the league,” the 58-year-old said.
In his three years with San Miguel, the management made it a point to add key pieces to the Beermen bench. And players like RR Garcia, Gabby Espinas, and Ronald Tubid had to make huge sacrifices.
“I’m thankful to the bench because very understanding sila.
“Kahit sila hindi nagagamit, they keep on working hard in practice,” a grateful Austria shared. “It takes a lot of sacrifices and discipline and understanding dahil it’s not easy to develp a team like this, especially yung starters ko.”
After winning his fourth PBA championship, he can finally enjoy the fruits of his labor.
“This is the highlight of my career. There’s only two teams na nakakuha ng three-peat.
“It’s hard to win three championships in the All-Filipino. I’m only the second,” he gushed.
And tonight, Austria can finally rest.
