The right brew

San Miguel Beer head coach Leo Austria. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The Smart Araneta Coliseum is almost empty, but traces of the festivities that took place a few hours earlier are still there. The floor is covered with confetti and the rims are bare, their nets missing—a reminder that the battle was already decided.

Coach Leo Austria emerges from the San Miguel dugout and takes a moment to look closely at the historic arena as he tries to let his team’s latest winning moment sink in.

“This is the highlight of my coaching career,” says Austria after the Beermen’s 91-85 victory over Barangay Ginebra that won them a third straight PBA Philippine Cup crown via a 4-1 decision in the best-of-seven series.

Few will disagree. Indeed, the former PBA Rookie of the Year found the right combinations as the Beermen turned the series into a dazzling display of firepower and teamwork to become only the second team after Talk ‘N Text to collect the Jun Bernardino Perpetual Trophy.

San Miguel’s debonair starting five of June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross all had their moments of brilliance in putting the Gin Kings to the sword. Throughout the finals, Austria cut a composed figure, trusting his players to always figure out and counter every Ginebra assault.

“He gives us confidence,” says Lassiter, one of the league’s deadliest snipers. “He gives us a lot of freedom to do what we need to do on the court. Just having coach and the management believe in us, it’s a big deal for us.”

The way the Beermen dominated the Gin Kings made many people forget that this was the same San Miguel team that couldn’t get its act together three years ago. When Austria took the helm in 2014, the team was in disarray, mired in the so-called “Petronovela,” in reference to the drama within the squad that was then known as Petron Blaze.

“They all had their own groups,” recounts Austria in Filipino. “There were the Fil-Ams. The Bisayans. The veterans. And of course, there was Arwind Santos.”

It was a star-studded team that alarmingly underachieved. That’s why Ross’ statement, after picking up his second straight Finals Most Valuable Player award, resonated.

“You don’t win three championships in a row without sacrifice, and this team is all about sacrifice,” says Ross, who averaged 17.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 1.8 steals in the championship series. “Arwind was an MVP, but when June Mar came in he took a backseat. Alex was kind enough to move to the two spot and then I moved to the one. Marcio could do a lot more damage but he stuck to his role. And June Mar was not trying to score 30 points a game—he’s getting everybody involved.”

Lassiter adds: “You can look down the bench and see guys who can be playing a lot of minutes. Everyone of us has sacrificed, maybe not getting the touches on offense or playing more defense as a team, but having each other’s back, doing the little things.”

Austria has built the team around the 6-foot-10 Fajardo, who picked up his fifth Best Player of the Conference award and set in motion his bid to equal the league record of four season MVP plums held by Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio.

“It’s totally a team effort,” says Ross. “It all starts with June Mar, we all benefit from his greatness. All the attention that he gets just trickles down to Arwind who spreads the floor for us. Marcio also spreads the floor for us, Alex makes plays. I was hoping they’d give five MVPs out there, man. Our starters did so much and we played so many minutes and I was really hoping all five of us could get a trophy each.”

Santos agrees. “There’s no jealousy in this team,” the former MVP says in Filipino. We believe and trust each other. There’s really no point to outshine each other. When your teammates improve, it means you’ve done your part for the team, too.”

Austria has won four championships with San Miguel, staying unbeaten in the finals series. But over the years, the soft-spoken coach has also changed his approach in dealing with his star-studded roster.

“He’s very open about his expectations from the players and what the players also want,” says Austria’s son, Bacon, who is now a member of the high-powered SMB coaching staff.

Austria says his team still pulled a surprise on him with the way they pounced on the slow-starting and battle-weary Gin Kings in the finals. “They had fire in their eyes,” says Austria, who also thanked San Miguel team owners Ramon S. Ang and Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. for their support and trust in the team.

“They’re men on a mission and they really pulled out all the stops to make us succeed.”