San Miguel will only get better

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.NET

Staying perfect in the Finals, Leo Austria basked in the glow of San Miguel Beer’s latest PBA Philippine Cup triumph that made the Beermen the first team to win the season’s most-cherished crown four straight seasons.

But the amiable coach struggled to downplay the expectations surrounding the Beermen’s quest for continued excellence with the impending arrival of their top rookie.

Immediately after lifting the trophy—his sixth—on Friday night at Mall of Asia Arena, Austria faced a burning yet legitimate question: Can the Beermen, under his watch, finally complete a Grand Slam?

“We’re not thinking of the Grand Slam,” Austria responded. “Every game is like a championship game for us. There will be no easy games because if you’re on top, every team will be trying to beat you.”

But beating the Beermen becomes doubly hard when the Commissioner’s Cup rolls around as their incredibly talented roster will be beefed up by top pick Christian Standhardinger, who will join the team as soon as he’s done with commitments for Hong Kong club Eastern in the Asean Basketball League.

“I think you can see that there will be a lot of good imports, but we will have two,” Austria jokingly said, referring to American reinforcement Troy Gillenwater and Standhardinger.

Tipped as the man with the best chance of matching up with San Miguel cornerstone June Mar Fajardo, the 6-foot-8 Standhardinger was acquired by the Beermen in a controversial deal with Kia last year, turning a potential stumbling block into a prized possession.

But even with the Filipino-German on board, Austria knows there are no guarantees of a Grand Slam.

After winning the first two conferences last year, Austria and his crew bowed out in the quarterfinals of the Governors’ Cup.

“Well, the possibility is still there,” said Austria. “Every game, every conference, you still need to work hard because talent is not enough. Attitude is. If they will work hard and have good camaraderie and good preparation, I think there’s a great possibility that we can win another championship.”

Austria saw all of those in their record-shattering run in the all-Filipino tournament.

Fajardo earned a sixth Best Player of the Conference award before capping his awe-inspiring campaign with a 42-point, 20-rebound output in the title-clinching win in Game 5.

Arwind Santos proved instrumental with his defense, experience and outside sniping in the playoffs, while Marcio Lassiter was a steady performer on both ends of the floor in the Finals.

Struggling for much of the series as his other teammates stepped up, Chris Ross delivered one of the finest all-around performances in league history in Game 5 when he scattered 13 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, issued 11 assists and collected eight steals.

“It’s overwhelming,”said Austria, referring to his team’s performance that put the Beermen in the conversation as the greatest team of all-time. “Maybe this is because of the experiences we had. I told the players we must develop character, the winning attitude, and now they have the heart of a champion.”