JOE Silva admitted having butterflies in his stomach as he coached his first game in the PBA.
Silva said it was obviously different calling the shots from amateur to the pros.
He coached Blackwater in the opener of the PBA On Tour on Sunday and steered the team to a 93-88 win over NLEX at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
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Silva is temporarily handling the Bossing in lieu of head coach Jeff Cariaso, who is currently in the US.
"In all honesty kinabahan talaga ako kasi coaching in high school and college is different to coaching the pros talaga," said Silva of his first shot at coaching in the PBA.
Silva previously coached the Ateneo Blue Eagles to the UAAP juniors championship behind a team led by Kai Sotto.
He was also former mentor of the University of the East, but didn't have much success compared with his time with the Blue Eaglets.
He later served as deputy to Cariaso at Alaska and Converge, and now with Blackwater.
Good thing in his first PBA coaching foray, he was supported by the entire Blackwater coaching staff which he referred to as 'coaching committee.'
"Since coach Jeff was not here, we were coaching by committee," he said of the Bossing coaching staff led by Aris Dimaunahan.
"It's not just me naman. I need all the inputs na nakikita kasi mas matagal na sila sa akin sa team," he added. "Tulung-tulong lang kami kung ano ang gusto ni coach Jeff.
Silva said Cariaso is in constant in touch with the team despite being away, adding Cariaso will likely take over after six games.
"We'll just waiting for his arrival and then he'll take over," said Silva.
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