By ANGELO JACINTO
NEAR the end of his post-game press conference in San Beda’s 82-72 win over Lyceum, Red Lions head coach Yuri Escueta dropped a Norman Black reference that most of the people inside the Smart Araneta Coliseum media area were probably too young to get.
“We’ll give our 110 percent kasi andyan si coach Norman sa 'min e, Mr. 110 percent,” Escueta said before bewildered young reporters who probably know Black more as a [former] Meralco coach - not as one of the best imports the PBA has seen.
READ San Beda repeats over Lyceum, reaches NCAA Finals vs Mapua
While the reference may go over some people’s heads, the ties that bind Escueta and Black are clear as day.
Fifteen years after winning a UAAP championship as a player and a coach at Ateneo, they’re now two wins away from recapturing the magic of their old partnership, this time in the NCAA as coach and consultant at San Beda.
The last time Escueta and Black were together in a collegiate team was back in 2008, it was the first of the Blue Eagles’ dynastic run of five straight UAAP titles under Black with Escueta being Chris Tiu’s co-captain in that squad.
Now, Escueta is the captain of his own ship as the Red Lions’ head coach with Black still in his ears, this time as one of his consultants.
“I coached him in college at Ateneo. So I had a relationship with him before I joined and he was the main reason why I joined. I was asked to come over and help out and I think he’s done a really good job,” Black said when asked about his partnership with Escueta.
“He’s got a little bright mind for a young coach. He really puts the work in, the effort in to make sure the team’s prepared for every game. He listens to others, he listens to his assistant coaches and we just try to put the best game plan together that we can get so that we can win games,” he added.
“Like I said, he’s the head coach, he’s our leader and if we win this thing it’s gonna be because of him.”
The multi-titled UAAP and PBA head coach has been highly active with his duty with the Red Lions, as he works on the skills of their bigs, while actively helping out Escueta draw out winning game plans for this young Red Lion squad.
But make no mistake about it, he’s not overstepping his bounds when it comes to his responsibilities in the team.
Black plays supporting role
“We’re here to support him. He’s the head coach. So any responsibility ends with him. Obviously he should have the last say cause he’s the head coach of the team. We recognize that,” the PBA grand slam coach said.
“I’ve been a head coach for 38 years so I recognize that you can accept and listen to all the suggestions you want from your support staff, the assistant coaches, but in the end you still have to make the final decision.”
Not that he needs to step in in any way as Escueta has done an absolutely smashing job as the head coach of the Red Lions, taking over in Season 98 at a time where the once mighty squad that instilled fear in the hearts of opponents suddenly looked vulnerable.
But Escueta was undeterred with having a young and rebuilding squad in his debut as a collegiate head coach as he still towed the Red Lions to the semifinals, and was a James Kwekuteye basket away from forcing a KO match against the College of St. Benilde Blazers.
In his second year, Jacob Cortez and Yukien Andrada have come into their own under his tutelage as the team slowly looked more and more like the fearsome Red Lions of the past once again as they made it back to the NCAA finals for the first time since 2019.
While he’s had plenty of help in towing the team back to their old stomping ground – Black’s addition included – they wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t built to be in this stage.
“I think Yuri has done a great job, the coaching staff has been supporting him 100 percent. We put a lot of time and effort in making sure the team is prepared every single game,” Black shared.
While he’s already proud to see his former player come into his own as a coach, he insists that the job’s far from finished as he knows that they can achieve so much more this season.
It all starts this weekend as they go to work on Saturday morning – Black included.
“That feels good. I feel good for Yuri to be quite honest with you. But it’s not over,” he said. “Like I’ve said, it’s nice to be in the championship.
"It’s nice to win this series, it’s nice to win the semifinals but the goal is to win the championship so we still got a job to do," he continued. "We’ll be back to work, 6 a.m. this Saturday morning, and try to prepare for Mapua.”
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