San Miguel’s head coach, Leo Austria. PBA . IMAGES
San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria feels he has the PBA’s most dominant player back and makes no secret of his goal for his Beermen to be King of the Philippine Cup again.
“We are better prepared this season than the last two,” Austria told the Inquirer in a recent interview, referring to the bubble setup and June Mar Fajardo’s injury that caused the man 6 foot 10 talent is not present in the squad. 2020.
Fajardo also lost his mother to COVID-19 last year and that took a lot of time for him, Austria said.
“But he (Fajardo) is fine now, both physically and mentally,” Austria continued. “He even told me in our chat na ‘babawi ako, coach.'”
Fajardo, who won six consecutive Player of the Year titles before a right shin injury left him in 2020, is sure to once again be at the heart of the San Miguel game at both ends as the Beermen debuted with Phoenix during the season’s inaugural conference at 6 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Our goal is always to win [championships], “Austria has continued as he tries to claim two fewer titles after winning at least one crown in each of his first six — counting consecutive PH Cup titles since 2015.” Yes, I feel we still have the most dominant player in the league, but we have to surround him with the help he needs. And that’s ours [coaching staff’s] Work. “Full commitment
He’s still surrounded by huge talent, even after San Miguel moved Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot to different teams last season. Remaining at the core of the Beermen are Chris Ross, Jericho Cruz, Mo Tautuaa, Vic Manuel and the energetic CJ Perez.
The Fuel Master won’t be the pusher, especially after they get Javee Mocon in the trade from Rain or Shine to help Matthew Wright with the offensive jobs.
Wright was supposed to play his entire final conference for Phoenix before he went to Japan, but the gunman has vowed not to hold any punches to help Fuel Masters.
“I have committed to 2019 for three years and I intend to play until the last second of that contract. That’s what being professional is all about,” Wright said during PBA Media Day. “Nothing will change. I’ll practice early, hard, and you’ll get the same Matthew Wright. ”
NLEX takes on Terrafirma in a 3 p.m. game against the Road Warriors, the team that went as deep as last season’s Governors Cup semi-final, playing without Kiefer Ravena.
Ravena wanted to play the conference before moving back to Japan, but NLEX management offered him a one-year contract, which he failed to meet last week.
In an earlier report, the Road Warriors, according to a source, were not interested in hosting Ravena just one conference as NLEX was trying to build a cohesive playable team for all three tournaments being held. in the season. INQ
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