The hunt begins

Leo Austria is trying very hard to keep his focus on where it should be—the immediate task at hand.

“It’s one game at a time for us. We can talk about that thing later on,” Austria said as he deflected talks of a PBA Grand Slam on the eve of San Miguel Beer’s Governors’ Cup debut Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“If it happens, it happens,” he said with a laugh. “But right now, our focus is the game (on Wednesday). This is where it will all start.”

The Beermen troop to the fabled Big Dome floor for a 7 p.m. match with Phoenix Pulse, with Austria not having the complement of a complete lineup with Marcio Lassiter still out and big men June Mar Fajardo and Christian Standhardinger to play “managed minutes” while recovering fully from leg injuries.

“We just need to play our game despite all the pressure that we feel,” he said when asked how the Triple Crown bid is being handled by the team. “The pressure is always there—people always expect a lot from us.”

Austria wants a strong start—something which he is confident of since he believes that his Beermen will come into the conference minus the championship hangover of their Commissioner’s Cup conquest of TNT.

The Beermen shrugged that off after coming from a fourth-place finish in the tough Terrific 12 tournament in Macau last week, where Dez Wells showed a glimpse of what he can do—skills that amazed Austria himself.

“He didn’t play like that in our first two tuneup games,” Austria said of his import, on whose shoulders a big chunk of the sweet season sweep of the Beermen rests. “But after seeing him in Macau, I think we have the right man for the job.”

The KaTropa will also be making their conference debut earlier, colliding with Blackwater in the 4:30 p.m. contest with the Elite to stick it out with Marqus Blakely as original import choice Aaron Fuller is still injured.

Austria said that Fajardo, the reigning five-time MVP, still has a swollen right ankle, while Standhardinger just recently recovered from a hurting knee sustained in Macau.

“Health-wise, the team is OK,” Austria continued. “But (Fajardo and Standhardinger) will play managed minutes. They still need to fully recover.”

Phoenix, led by Eugene Phelps, tries to bounce back from a loss to NLEX last week.