Despite limited minutes on floor, Ronald Tubid relishes drill sergeant role with San Miguel

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Ronald Tubid may have appeared sparingly in the PBA Philippine Cup finals, but his real worth for San Miguel came behind the scenes.

The 16-year veteran played less than 10 minutes a game in the title showdown, but he made his impact in practice where he became the Beermen’s “drill sergeant” toughening up the starters for the grueling seven-game series.

“What us veterans do in practice is to give our starters the toughest practice as possible, we push them to the limit,” said Tubid during the fans’ day that the PBA held Friday at Robinson’s Magnolia.

“I see to it that what the players gain in practice will be translated to games. As they say, it’s better to have a hard practice so once the game starts it would be easier for them.”

“I’m like a drill sergeant, that’s the role they gave me here and I will do that role.”

Tubid, together with Brian Heruela, was traded to the Dyip for the draft rights to 2017 top overall pick Christian Standhardinger.

And now that he’s back with the Beermen, Tubid said the championship was the very result he expected in his return.

“I missed this feeling because I’m a winner again,” said Tubid who has won a total of eight titles in his career. “When I returned to San Miguel I knew I had a big chance of winning another championship.”

“This team is truly at its prime and I’m just so blessed having a chance to play with these guys again.”