WILLY Wilson’s coaching debut with Phoenix has so far netted him two wins entering the homestretch of the PBA Philippine Cup.
And one of them came at the expense of former teammate, close friend, and fellow rookie mentor Ronald Tubid of Terrafirma.
In the first match up in their young coaching career, Wilson got the better of Tubid as the Fuel Masters scored a 107-76 blowout win before the league went on a three-week break for the coming FIBA window.
READ: Ballungay double-double highlights Phoenix romp over Terrafirma
Wilson had a good laugh when asked about beating Tubid, with who he played with at Barangay Ginebra and won a championship together during the 2008 Fiesta Conference.
“Aside from showing me how old I am now, it’s surreal,” said the 44-year-old Fil-Am of his battle with Tubid at the sidelines.
“Of course, we’re rooting for each other’s success. But at the end of the day, we just want to compete.”
Wilson and Tubid are two of the rookie coaches in the league this Season 50 along with LA Tenorio of Magnolia, and Dennis ‘Delta’ Pineda of Converge.
The two are also the latest among former PBA players who are coaching in the league today together with Tenorio, Jeff Cariaso (Blackwater), Johnedel Cardel (Titan Ultra), and Leo Austria (San Miguel).
A product of the La Salle basketball program, Wilson said coaching against Tubid is no different than taking on the likes of Tenorio and Co. on the other side of the bench.
“I guess it’s similar to coaching against LA, when I coached against Leo Austria, and these are people who are close to me,” said the Phoenix mentor.
“I looked at coach Leo as a mentor, I was teammate with LA, and I was teammate with Ronald.”
Wilson disclosed he’s actually teammates with Tubid right now in a league for players 40-and-above.
“We play in an oldies league and Ronald is a very, very close friend of mine.”
And playing against or with each other compared to coaching against another is very different, according to Wilson.
“It’s different when you’re coaching against them, aside from playing against them,” said the Phoenix coach, who served as deputy to predecessors Louie Alas, Topex Robinson, and Jamike Jarin before getting his own coaching break with the Fuel Masters.
“When you’re playing, you can get a little more hand to hand,” he added. “So it’s just a chess match kasi he (Tubid) has a very high (basketball) IQ.”
Wilson admitted rubbing his personal win over Tubid a little bit, but nonetheless marked the first of what hopefully, would be more coaching encounters in the future by having a good round of ice-cold beer.
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