Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
    View Today
    Sun, Nov 5

    COLUMN: Dragons prove too good as SMB coaching gambit backfires

    As Bay Area unleashed several weapons, SMB relied almost exclusively on Fajardo
    Dec 16, 2022
    Bay Area Dragons
    PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - What's San Miguel Beer going to do now, change head coaches again in Game Three?

    After weeks of mysteriously keeping private the status of a very public job, the Beermen suddenly reinstated Leo Austria and put an end to assistant Jorge's Gallent impressive 6-1 run while at the helm.

    Well, the Shanghai surprise blew up in their faces.

    Bay Area Dragons 114. San Miguel 95.

    Under Gallent in Game One, the Beermen built a 16-point lead and took the Dragons huffing and puffing in the endgame. Under Austria tonight, San Miguel looked flat and trailed by as much as 21.

    The results don't lie, the swap was ill-opportuned.

    Even after that 103-102 Game One demise, Gallent had earned the opportunity to play out this series especially after a sterling 6-0 streak entering the playoffs.

    Chris Ross Leo Austria

    But the Beermen elected to make a circus out of their head coaching job, so the joke is on them as they fell 0-2 to the visiting Hong Kong squad in their best-of-five semifinal series.

    Too many cooks and too many voices equals one big confusion.

    The idea of San Miguel running the table and beating Bay Area three in a row is simply unrealistic. The Beermen are done with this conference.

    THE DRAGONS ARE TOO TALL AND TOO TALENTED. TOO DEEP AND TOO DISCIPLINED.

    Unlike San Miguel, the head-coaching position is secure with Brian Goorjan, who was splendid with his rotations and sharp in his defensive sets.

    Bay Area's championship traits were laid bare at the PhilSports Arena where their import, Andrew Nicholson, powered his way through 34 points and 16 rebounds on 12-of-21 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 from 3.

    Nicholson epitomized the balanced attack of the Dragons, who converted 40 points in the paint while nailing 17 triples.

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    SEE ALSO
    SEE ALSO

    Besides Nicholson, Bay Area had too many weapons.

    Kobey Lam scattered 25 points. Glen Yang had 13 points, four rebounds and eight assists. Hayden Blankley added 11 and 7-foot-5 giant Liu Chuaxing joined the party with 10 points and seven boards.

    In contrast, San Miguel relied almost exclusively on June Mar Fajardo . The Kraken finished with 35 points. The only meaningful help he got offensively was from Marcio Lassiter's 15 points on the strength of four treys.

    MORE FROM SPIN
    MORE FROM SPIN

      The livestream where I watched the game on a social media platform peaked with 58,000 viewers in the third quarter. At the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter, as Bay Area emptied their bench, there were just 68 of us watching.

      That's how good these Dragons are. They can make a very talented San Miguel team look dull and boring.

      UPDATE. I was pleasantly surprised to see coach Leo back in his usual spot tonight after a long layoff.

      CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓
      Watch Now

      Gallent, I was told, had a great shot at removing his interim tag until that fateful Game One loss where he surprisingly pulled June Mar Fajardo off the court, allowing Bay Area to sneak in two lay-ups for the 103-102 victory.

      But what if Jericho Cruz made that 3?

      Coaching is a brutal business. You really are judged based on your last game.

      Not fair but that's just how it goes.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

      Read Next
      Watch Now
      Sorry, no results found for
      PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
    • POLL

      • Quiz

        Quiz Result