Coaching merry-go-round at San Miguel

WITHOUT a PBA championship thus far this season, the three San Miguel Corp. teams are juggling their coaching  staff with those successful in other leagues being tapped to fill major jobs.

Boysie Zamar, the former University of the East guard who steered the Warriors to a surprise championship in a preseason tournament some two weeks ago, will come in as an assistant to Alfrancis Chua at Barangay Ginebra.

Long-time assistant Allan Caidic, a member of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players, and Juno Sauler will now perform full-time coaching duties at La Salle, which Gee Abanilla left to return to Petron Blaze.

Todd Purves, the American who coached the Indonesia Warriors to a second place finish behind San Miguel Beer in the Asean Basketball League title series last week, is in the midst of a contract negotiation to be an active consultant at Petron.

And Leo Austria, who coached the Beermen to that championship, is reportedly being eyed as successor to Petron’s Olsen Racela once his commitment with Adamson in the UAAP ends at the end of the coming season in October.

Major coaching changes is nothing new to the San Miguel teams, but this one will be the biggest since all three teams—Ginebra, Petron and even San Mig Coffee—will be affected if rumors prove to be true.

Ato Agustin took over last year at San Miguel, now Petron, just days after steering San Sebastian and Calvin Abueva to an NCAA championship. After winning a championship in his maiden tournament, Agustin was demoted as assistant after dismal performances.
This will be the second time in this season that Petron—should it come to terms with Purves—will try on a foreign coaching consultant.

Rajko Toroman, the first coach of the Gilas-Pilipinas program, called the shots for the Boosters in this season’s Philippine Cup as a consultant, only to be ousted from the bench reportedly because of stiff rules he implemented in the team that most of the superstar players rejected.

Ginebra made the recent Commissioner’s Cup Finals after an amazing run in the playoffs only to be swept in three games by Alaska, something which, according to sources, did not sit well with SMC top honcho Ramon S. Ang.

Racela, who has had a string of bad luck as Petron coach—the most notable being the banishment of Renaldo Balkman as import in the Commissioner’s Cup—is reportedly going to San Mig as Tim Cone’s assistant once Austria becomes available.