San Miguel Beermen head coach Leo Austria. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Drawing lessons from the past seasons, coach Leo Austria sees his surplus of guards as a good problem for San Miguel.
With RR Garcia now in tow, the two-time Coach of the Year believes that his side is well-prepared in case nagging injuries haunt the Beermen once again this year.
“Para sa akin, sakto lang yung guards ko dahil long season ito eh,” he said.
“If you’ll notice, kaya nag-suffer yung team namin dahil maraming injuries na nangyari. Ngayon, kapag loaded ka ng guards, marami kang choices at hindi bugbog yung mga players.”
Austria also sees Garcia’s entry as a chance for him to tinker his backcourt rotation, placing Alex Cabagnot on his more suitable position as a shooting guard.
“Kung titingan mo yung lineup namin, talagang point guard yung kailangan namin. Sa pagpasok ni RR, almost complete na kami,” he said.
“Ngayon, I can concentrate Alex to the two-guard dahil capable naman sya umiskor eh. As a point guard, apeketado yung kanyang distribution dahil he can score eh, so pwede nating gawin si RR na point guard, reliever ni Chris Ross or the other way around, depende sa kalaban namin.”
Ross and Marcio Lassiter are still expected to start for San Miguel, while Garcia, Cabagnot, and Brian Heruela will come off the bench.