SAN Miguel is not putting a heavy burden on the shoulder of prized and new acquisition CJ Perez.
Coach Leo Austria refused to anoint the 27-year-old wingman as the missing link in the team’s long cherished bid to nail a PBA grandslam.
Austria would rather consider Perez as a possible major piece of whatever success the Beermen could accomplish in the league’s coming 46th season and beyond, be that a grandslam or not.
“It’s hard to tell dahil maraming beses na kaming nag-try and ganun din kalakas yung mga lineup, pero hindi nangyari yun,” said the champion coach on Saturday when asked point blank by former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala in his program Power & Play if the Gilas Pilipinas mainstay is the one ingredient lacking at San Miguel to finally complete a season sweep.
“We’re thinking one game at a time,” added Austria. “Kung sa amin yan, kung talagang ibibigay sa amin yan, mangyayari yan.”
It has been tough for San Miguel franchise the past few years, specifically two of the last three seasons.
In 2017, the Beermen had a shot of claiming all three conference championships, but faltered in the homestretch of the Governors Cup as they gambled on three different imports in a bid to keep their grand slam bid alive. They were ousted in the opening round of the playoffs by eventual champion Barangay Ginebra.
Two years later with high-scoring Terrence Romeo on board and a prolific import in Dez Wells during the season-ending Governors Cup, San Miguel appeared to have the right formula of finally repeating as grand slam champion 30 years after first winning it in 1989.
Unfortunately, the team imploded as Wells got embroiled in an infamous practice brawl that also involved Arwind Santos, Ronald Tubid, and Kelly Nabong. The aftermath scenario was an ugly one for the Beermen as Wells was booted out, and Santos, Tubid, and Nabong slapped indefinite suspensions by management, resulting in another first round playoffs exit for San Miguel courtesy of Barangay Ginebra.
Austria said the grand slam is definitely far from the Beermen’s minds right now, and focus is obviously on getting even better as a team with Perez, the back-to-back scoring champion of the league the past two years, coming on board.
Perez was acquired from Terrafirma in exchange for the trio of Matt Ganuelas Rosser, Russel Escoto, and Gelo Alolino, along with the No. 8 overall pick in the last rookie draft — which turned out to be big man James Laput — in an off-season trade that raised a lot of eyebrows.
“What I want is for our players to focus on their games, on their practices, and it will bring a lot of good things para sa amin,” said Austria.
But one thing for sure, Perez is going to be a huge addition to whatever the Beermen will be aiming for the season.
“Maganda yung pagdating niya dahil yung kanyang energy ay kakaiba. And alam natin na he wants to win a championship, so wala kang makikita na magre-relax yung bata na ito,” Austria said.
“At yung hinahanap ng team na magpo-provide ng malaking tulong, makikita natin kay CJ.”
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