Leo Austria expects Terrence Romeo to rally behind Beermen’s cause: ‘He wants to win a championship’

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel head coach Leo Austria made it clear that even with his caliber, Terrence Romeo still has to prove himself when he officially joins the Beermen.

Austria is well aware of Romeo’s individual awards but as far as team trophies are concerned the polarizing gunner still has nothing to show for it.

“He has a lot of achievements, individually, but as a team I think he hasn’t won a championship yet,” said Austria in Filipino after the team’s practice Wednesday at Acropolis Clubhouse. “That’s the first thing he has to do, and I think he wants to win a championship.”

“Every time there are new players on the team, the incumbent ones will have to size him up and he too has to size his new teammates up. It will take a few days to be familiarized with the team.”

San Miguel has been nothing short of successful during Austria’s reign winning six of the possible 12 titles across four seasons including four straight Philippine Cups.

Austria is also aware of Romeo’s reputation for being a problematic player.

In a report by Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Musong Castillo, Romeo was shipped out of TNT at the request of several players after the star guard “ruined” the team’s chemistry, according to sources.

A couple of Beermen also had run-ins with Romeo on the court in the past season.

But Austria remains positive that these issues will be resolved once Romeo starts practicing with the team on Thursday.

Austria did fix San Miguel after its tumultuous “Petronovela” phase when the team had to change its coaches several times and won just one championship in a span of three years.

“Ever since Petron there was the novella and there were a lot of intrigues within the team but still the players stayed together and because of that in the last four years we started winning championships,” said Austria who took over as head coach at the start of the 2014-15 season.

“There were a lot of ups and downs and the players matured because of that. These guys are professionals and they should exercise your attitude because this is not any one’s team. Anyone of us can be let go any time, The loyalty should remain to the team.”