RONALD Tubid may be gone from San Miguel for a year, but nothing changed as far as his mentality is concerned.
"Winning a championship isn't done overnight. Process pa rin from Day One ng training camp. Di namin pwedeng ibigay sa amin, kailangan we take it," he said after attending his first practice session in his SMB homecoming.
The 37-year-old Tubid, acquired from Columbian Dyip in exchange for Keith Agovida, is one of the four new faces in the Beermen camp together with Terrence Romeo, Paul Zamar, and rookie Ryan Monteclaro.
Save for Romeo, the trio have already joined their new team's practice at Acropolis on Tuesday before the entire team goes on a Christmas break.
As a returnee, Tubid is taking it upon himself to help ingrain in the newcomers how things work in San Miguel.
"Ang importante, maintindihan nila kung bakit sila kinuha ng San Miguel at kung anong role ang kailangan sa kanila. Lahat naman nakaka-score dito eh, pero ang importante yung depensa. Kaya kami nagcha-champion dahil alam ng bawat player ang role nila at dumedepensa," he said.
"Also, yung work ethic. Marami na kaming may edad pero pinapakita namin sa mga bata na kahit may edad na kami, di kami nagpapabaya sa trabaho at tularan nila kami bilang mga kuya. Siguro mahihiya sila pag nagpa-bandying-bandying sila. Kailangan kami ang mag-set ng standard, na kahit may edad na kami, work hard pa rin kami."
This early, Zamar understands exactly that as he looks forward to battling fancied guards like Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, and Romeo in practice.
"Yun naman yung challenge eh, to play with high-caliber players na proven na and won championships," he said. "Back to zero ako dito and I need to prove myself again sa team na ito. Iba ang Blackwater sa San Miguel so I need to earn my minutes talaga. Magandang challenge para sa akin yun."
Loaded as San Miguel may be this coming 2019 PBA season, both Tubid and Zamar know that nothing is given at this stage.
"Maybe stacked ang San Miguel, pero there's a lot of things to work on pa lalo na other teams are catching up," said Zamar.
Tubid said: "Kahit 'yung Golden State Warriors, di nila pinabayaan yung laro nila. Pinaghihirapan nila yung championship at ganoon din sa San Miguel. Kailangan pagtrabahuan talaga para makuha namin yung championship."
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