Austria says Gillenwater up for evaluation: ‘We’re not impressed’

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

ANTIPOLO — Tuesday is judgment day for San Miguel import Troy Gillenwater.

With Gillenwater failing to impress in his first two outings for the Grand Slam-seeking Beermen, coach Leo Austria said the team is now in the process of evaluation, especially after the squad reeled to its first 0-2 start in three years after a 123-119 overtime defeat to Rain or Shine on Sunday night.

“We’ll have to think about it. We have to evaluate. Any player is subject for evaluation if they are helpful or not. It should be a collective decision,” Austria said.

Through two games, Gillenwater averaged only 15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.

Even Austria admitted that he wasn’t blown away with Gillenwater’s performance.

It also didn’t help that the 29-year-old was ejected late in the first half against the Elasto Painters after making physical contact with referee Rey Yante.

“Compared to the other imports, we’re not impressed,” he said. “His first quarter is very impressive, but that’s just the first quarter. He should last at least 40 minutes per game and we saw that he’s so frustrated.”

Austria shared that San Miguel is now pressed for time to make a decision quick, with the duel against Alaska set on Saturday in Dumaguete.

But if the Beermen decide to make a change, they are still left with a tough decision to make with last season’s Best Import Charles Rhodes or San Miguel Alab Pilipinas reinforcement Renaldo Balkman both available.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a decision soon. The sooner the better,” he said.