NENAD Vucinic helped Meralco capture its first-ever PBA crown on Sunday in the Season 48 Philippine Cup in his role as an active consultant to head coach Luigi Trillo.
That thought seemed so remote two years ago, when Vucinic had already left the country during a turbulent time when Gilas Pilipinas was going through a major upheaval in its coaching staff.
Still, Vucinic said he loved the country and its passion for basketball so much that deep inside, he hoped he could return.
READ Meralco a PBA champion at long last after riveting Game 6 win over SMB
“I left after that season, that was two years ago,” said Vucinic, referring to 2022 when he stepped down from the Gilas position even though he was already a consultant for Meralco at that time.
“I wanted to come back. I was already consulting with Meralco. I really wanted to come back to be with Meralco and thank God that I got a call to come back.”
The call was for the Serbian-New Zealander mentor to return to Meralco to take on a more active role in the coaching staff, after Trillo took over the head coaching role from Norman Black in May of 2023.
More than a year later, Vucinic got the results that management wanted as he guided the Bolts past powerhouse San Miguel in the Philippine Cup Finals with a thrilling 80-78 win in Game Six on Sunday night.
Nenad recalls time with Gilas
Perhaps it would have been a different result had Vucinic left the country for good, something that was already in his mind to begin with when his good friend Tab Baldwin was replaced as Gilas coach by Chot Reyes in February 2022.
“At that time, there were some politics around Gilas,” Vucinic admitted. “And I have to be honest, Tab Baldwin, he had a program at that time, and I came because of him. And he is my friend and I tried to help him. And when he lost the job, I really wanted to go home.”
But Nenad said it was Baldwin himself who asked him to stay.
“Usually, you don’t do that (staying). I spoke to coach Tab and he asked me to stay and help coach Chot and Gilas because he does have the Gilas program at heart as well. And I stayed,” said Vucinic.
Vucinic went on to also become the interim coach of Gilas Pilipinas during one of the windows for the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers in June 2022, but he stepped down for good a few months later.
“And then, there were some issues. There were some public things between coach Tab and Gilas. And I said, I could not stay there anymore. But I have full respect to the SBP, of course Gilas, and I wish them all the best,” said Vucinic.
Nenad receives offer to return to Meralco
Despite what he went through, Vucinic was happy to get an offer to come back to Meralco because of the how the people treat each other in the Philippines.
“From the first day I arrived and being part of Gilas, SBP, and like today, I feel very comfortable here. I’m very comfortable because people are good. They have values. They do the best they can. Players, whether its Gilas or Meralco, they are soldiers. They listen to the coaches. They respect the coaches. They respect the hierarchy.
“And I could tell you from my experiences, I’ve been all around the world. It’s very difficult to have these days. There’s so much politics involved with the players, their agents, even the fans are involved,” said Vucinic, who had coaching stints in New Zealand, Japan, Serbia, and Estonia to name a few.
“But here in the Philippines, I had an opportunity even with Gilas, I was helping coach Chot at that time. And we had a good time. It was difficult because coaches were also coaching Talk ‘N Text and there were some overlapping and all this, but I gave my best,” said Vucinic.
“Even with my time with coach Norman (Black) as a consultant, I really enjoyed it. We worked really hard to do the best we could. Then, unfortunately, coach Norman wasn’t renewed,” Vucinic said.
Credit goes to players
The 59-year-old mentor was glad that Meralco responded to the changes he introduced when he was promoted to the active consultant position.
The coaching change led to a quick results with the Bolts finally capturing the PBA title they've been longing for after four runner-up finishes.
“Coach Luigi stepped in and for 12 months, we’ve really done a lot of work. The thing is when a new face comes in, especially a new face across the world, and this team has been under huge pressure to get the championship, we struggled I have to say because you have to implement a new system with new coaches and it’s difficult.
“Credit to the players, they bought in and worked hard though it was very hard for them to understand when they need to do,” said Vucinic.
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