Austria earns rightful place among PBA’s elite tacticians
When the microphone was handed to Leo Austria during the presentation of the PBA Philippine Cup trophy, he made sure to thank everyone responsible behind the scenes for San Miguel Beer’s latest championship haul.
He then proceeded to fork over all credit to his players.
“Dahil sa kanila, nagmukha na naman akong magaling (Because of them, I look like I’m great again),” Austria said.
The multititled coach has made it a habit to deflect praise, preferring to push the spotlight to a deep and talented roster led by June Mar Fajardo, the league’s nine-time MVP, who is on track for a 10th trophy.
For Austria, it’s not about getting the praise; it’s about being thankful. The easygoing coach has now won back-to-back tournaments—both in the league’s most prestigious tournament, the All-Filipino—in his second go-around as coach of the Beermen.
And as much as he wants to hide behind the shine of his players, a glow he helped polish, the numbers refuse to stay quiet: Austria is in an elite class of coaches who have won at least 11 championships.
The Quezon province native has 11 PBA titles, tied for third most with Chot Reyes, the TNT coach he vanquished twice in a row already, and Norman Black, who was also present during San Miguel’s 92-77 title-clinching Game 6 victory, as part of the broadcast panel.
The three are behind all-time leader Tim Cone of Barangay Ginebra, whose 25 championships are practically unreachable, and No. 2 Baby Dalupan, the legendary coach who has 15.
San Miguel’s run appeared almost immaculate, but it wasn’t the case.
Of those five coaches, Austria and Reyes haven’t put together a Grand Slam yet. Austria foiled Reyes last season by leading the Beermen to the season-ending Philippine Cup. This year, San Miguel has a shot at trying to reach for a second triple crown in franchise history.
And it was almost not meant to be.
The Beermen opened the Philippine Cup with two straight losses at the hands of the NLEx Road Warriors and the Phoenix Fuel Masters, putting their title-retention bid in an alarming mode early.
10 in a row
But San Miguel racked up nine consecutive wins, including conquests of Ginebra and TNT, to finish the eliminations on top. The Beermen made it 10 in a row on Christmas Day by exacting revenge on the Road Warriors and eliminating them in the quarterfinals.
The semifinals and Finals had some trials and tribulations, but Austria and the Beermen, like they always seem to do, found ways to get the job done.
“We lost in those two games because we were too complacent after winning the All-Filipino Cup. They thought it’s easy to win again. But it was a wake-up call for us,” said Austria.
“Our target was to get into the top four, which happened easily after winning a lot of games against those top teams. Going to the playoffs, they know that we have to play harder. Their mindset is different because they know the glory of winning a championship.”
Austria’s latest title should further cement his status as one of the greatest bench tacticians ever, despite the number of people who doubt his caliber.
Before San Miguel, Austria had championship success in the Philippine Basketball League with Shark and Welcoat, then put Shell in a position to contend in his first PBA coaching foray, as well as Adamson in the UAAP.
Having a collection of talent led by June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ross and Marcio, along with a cast that also included CJ Perez and three of his ex-Adamson players in Don Trollano, Jericho Cruz and Rodney Brondial in his roster, was certainly a huge factor.
But it wasn’t the only one.
“He’s one of the great coaches of the PBA,” Fajardo said in Filipino. “He hasn’t been given too much credit, but he’s such a humble person and he’s the reason why we’ve won many championships.”
