IT IS back to the drawing board for coach Leo Austria and San Miguel.
Once the favorites to win a grand slam, Ginebra once again dashed their hopes for that historic feat following an amazing six-game grind in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals which ended with a 93-77 win on Wednesday.
"You win some, you lose some. This could serve as a wake-up call for us because of the hype. Sinasasbi nga na we’re a strong team then all of a sudden, there’s another team that’s emerging as playing better than us, pound-for-pound," said Austria.
"Sabi ko nga, hindi perfect e. We will take this as a lesson for us and a wake-up call for us."
For Austria, this only goes to show that they're not invincible even after all the retooling that they've done this season.
The arrival of Christian Standhardinger to an already loaded squad heightened the expectations this conference. They also beefed up by adding Kelly Nabong midway through the Commissioner's Cup.
But if there's one thing that they've learned this series, it's that superteams can lose games too.
"First of all, alisin namin yung anim na championship namin. Alisin namin yung paniniwala na nababasa’t naririnig namin na we’re a superteam. Yung hype going into the Finals na we’re too much for our opponent. We have to go back to the basics, the fundamentals of basketball," Austria said while hoping that Ginebra's win could take off the target on their backs.
"We have to prepare hard because every team in the PBA is too eager to beat San Miguel. The good thing is there’s another team emerging so dalawa na paghahandaan nila. I hope na the team could believe what’s happening right now."
Now Austria can only hope that they could translate this heartbreaking setback into something better in the future.
"It’s hard to maintain being on top of the mountain. Sooner or later, bababgyuhin ka, babagsak ka rin. Now, it’s happening. Alam nila. It could be a wake-up call for us," Austria said.
"Alam ko e na we’re a little bit complacent – not only the players, everybody from the ball boys to the coaching staff."
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