College of Saint Benilde head coach Charles Tiu is thrilled over the appointment of Slovenian coach Zoran Martic as their team consultant, saying that his experience will be a big boost to their campaign in Season 99 National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament.
In a message to Daily Tribune, Tiu said they are now in the process of integrating the team into Martic’s system and the expectations that he set.
“Zoran is a very well-respected coach internationally and has a wealth of experience. I am hoping to pick his brain and learn from him,” said Tiu, adding that the 58-year-old Martic is his friend through Serbian coach Rajko Toroman.
“Let’s see how he will help us but first he has to see what type of players we have. Sometimes it’s good for the guys to get a fresh perspective and to learn from great coaches like Zoran.”
A former rival of Ateneo De Manila University head coach Tab Baldwin when they were still coaching in Europe, Martic was reached out by basketball patrons Frank and Jacob Lao to help the teams they are supporting.
Aside from the Blazers, Martic will also help in the preparations of Converge in the Philippine Basketball Association, Letran High School in the NCAA juniors and Pampanga Royce Hotel in the Pilipinas Super League.
Tiu said Martic will have to eventually go back to Europe so they are planning to absorb his system as fast as they can.
“I wish he could stay here longer with us. He’s only going to be here for a short time so I don’t think he will be here for the season or not even before that,” said the 37-year-old Tiu, one of the assistant coaches of Toroman in the original Gilas program.
“But, we will try to absorb and learn from him as much as we can.”
Tiu added that they are leaving no stone unturned in coming up with a solid preparation as they hunt for their first title in 23 years.
“Preparations are the same for us. We are trying to join tournaments as much as we can while balancing out practice time but we have a couple of injuries to key players so hopefully they will recover soon,” Tiu said.
