VETERAN Chris Ross embraces the coaching change effected at San Miguel in Friday’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
At the same time, though, the playing-assistant coach of the Beermen believes the players also had their take accountability for the slow start of the defending champions in the conference.
“It’s not the coaches fault, I feel like it’s the players’ fault. The coach can only do so much. The coach puts the players on the floor, and it’s up to the players to perform,” Ross shared to SPIN.ph.
“If the players don’t perform, it’s not the players that they’ll look at, it’s the coaches.”
San Miguel made a stunning move just before its game against Terrafirma at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium when management announced team consultant Leo Austria was back as head coach of the Beermen, while former mentor Jorge Gallent assumed Austria's previous position as active consultant.
READ: Leo Austria back as SMB head coach; Gallent now team consultant
The move obviously came after back-to-back losses by the reigning titlists against NLEX and Rain or Shine. The defeat against the Road Warriors, in particular, was a heartbreaker, as the Beermen lost hold of a 19-point third quarter lead.
San Miguel's worrying funk
Ross wouldn’t want to speculate about it, but looking back, he stressed the team has been underachieving since the start of Season 49.
“If you look back at our last conference (Governors’ Cup), I don’t think we performed well. So we went from winning a championship (Commissioner’s Cup) to losing a championship (Philippine Cup). And the following conference, I don’t think we performed well,” said the 39-year-old Fil-Am guard.
“And now, we didn’t start well.”
Ross of course, welcomed back the return of Austria at San Miguel’s coaching helm, looking back at how successful the team was working under the veteran coach who was responsible for all but one of the franchise’s last 10 championships, including five straight All-Filipino crowns from 2014-19.
“It’s nice having him (Austria) back. I’m happy for coach Leo,” he said. “With Leo, we have so much history. He knows what I can do, I know what he can do.”
At the same time, though, Ross also feels for Gallent.
As he put it, “We did good things with coach Jorge. We won a championship, we went to the finals. It’s a short two-year stint for him. So it is what it is. I’m happy for coach Leo, I’m happy for coach Jorge.”
In the end, Ross hopes the Beermen will be able to regain their winning ways, starting with their 106-88 win over Terrafirma at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“I feel like the players let coach Jorge down, so hopefully, when we’re on the floor, the players realize what’s going on and we play much better than before because like I said, the coach can only do so much. It’s really a lot of heavy lifting on the players,” said Ross.
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