Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Interestingly, Alex Cabagnot was present at the University of the Philippines bench when the Fighting Maroons made their UAAP Season 79 debut on Sunday against Adamson.
The San Miguel playmaker said he’s just lending a hand to his former coach Bo Perasol.
“I asked coach Bo if I could help out in UP in any way possible, and he assigned me to the skills of the guards,” he said. “It’s ball handling, just to teach the guys stuff, how to have less turnovers and stuff like that.”
Cabagnot played under Perasol for a year in 2009 with defunct Coca-Cola team in the PBA.
The 33-year-old guard said this move is his way of preparing himself on his post-playing days, sharing that imparting his knowledge to younger guys has always been a passion of his.
“I’ve been wanting to do this. I have a sports academy back in the States that’s been running for the last eight years. It’s called Edge International, and it’s been going on for the last eight to nine years. We’ve been teaching young kids from 10 all the way to 17, so it’s just another progression in my career,” he said.
Though Perasol gives him no pressure to show up every practice, Cabagnot has been present for UP thrice a week, helping guys like Paul Desiderio, Jett Manuel, Diego Dario, and the rest of the team’s guards develop their playmaking ability.
“I make an effort to build a rapport with the guys because it’s not going to be fair to them if I just show up once every two weeks. I pretty much show up twice, three times a week, depending on the San Miguel schedule,” he said.
And Cabagnot’s efforts are not ending up for naught as he attested that he’s slowly seeing signs of improvement from the Fighting Maroons despite their 104-85 defeat to the Soaring Falcons on Sunday.
“They’ve improved a lot, but we faced a really good Adamson team today,” he said. “We did our best, and I’m happy with the assertiveness of the guards. Hopefully, we can bounce back from this defeat.”
As much as he’s teaching the guards the ropes, the learning also goes both ways, with him being under Perasol’s guidance in Diliman.
“I know how patient, how understanding, and just very diligent coach Bo is. He’s a great coach to learn from on the coaching side,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of coaches as a player, but as a beginning coach in the UAAP, it will be great to learn from him. And it’s been great, he’s been teaching me a lot.”