San Miguel Beer will be sticking with coach Jorge Gallent and import Devon Scott as it makes a push for a deep run in the playoffs of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
Team manager Gee Abanilla made the confirmation to Daily Tribune on Sunday morning saying that head coach Leo Austria asked for a well-deserved rest following his bout with Covid-19.
“Coach Leo asked for some time off because he wants to have his body rested after a bout with Cobvid-19,” Abanilla said in a telephone conversation.
“He’s been coaching nearly non-stop.”
Once at the lower half of the team standings, the Beermen climbed their way back into contention as they posted four straight victories to end their elimination round campaign at No. 5.
Now, the Beermen have a chance to get into a much better position for their title-retention campaign when they face fourth seed Converge in a best-of-three quarterfinal duel.
And Gallent, a long-time deputy who won titles in the defunct Philippine Basketball League, will continue calling the shots.
“We don’t want to mess up the streak,” Abanilla said.
Aside from Gallent, the Beermen will also not rock the boat as they plan on sticking with Scott.
“He’s not a flashy or super import but he does so many things other than scoring and his teammates loved him,” Abanilla said.
“He defends well on ball screens because he’s so quick for a big man. We’re sticking with him.”
Abanilla believes the Beermen are peaking at the right time but still considers the team as a work in progress with the re-entry of six-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and three-time scoring champion Terrence Romeo.
Since his return, the 6-foot-10 slotman resumed his role as the team’s main man in the middle as he averaged 13.66 points and 9.33 rebounds and helped his squad in winning all the three matches.
Romeo, on the other hand, showed flashes of brilliance even after being laid off for nearly nine months.
His first game back gave Beermen fans a glimpse of more promising games to come as the reigning Finals MVP of this conference tallied 12 points in just 16 minutes of action as San Miguel coaching staff was trying to slowly break him in.
