THROUGH the years, the University of the Philippines head coach Goldwin Monteverde has long had the luxury of a natural-born leader in Gerry Abadiano.
The Fighting Maroons’ senior playmaker was named captain of State U's redemption-seeking UAAP Season 86 team after two years of championship heartbreak.
READ: UP joins La Salle in Final Four with hard-fought win vs Adamson
And having secured a sixth straight trip to the Final Four, coach Gold can rest assured he has the best right-hand man on the court.
UP’s ‘playing coach’
Embracing the need to deliver on-court leadership, Abadiano shared how he’s always sought to be Monteverde’s ‘strict’ extension on the floor.
“Ako bilang leader, medyo strict ako, lalo na sa mga ginagawa namin sa team namin at ‘yung sistema na gusto namin i-apply. As a captain, ako ‘yung head coach sa loob ng court,” Abadiano told SPIN.ph.
Known to be Monteverde’s go-to skipper - or one of his floor leaders - from Adamson all the way to NU-Nazareth School and now in Diliman, the champion coach shared just why he’s always had full faith in Abadiano to be the on-court voice amidst all the noise.
“Sa sobrang tagal kong kasama si Gerry, I've seen a lot of ups and downs on his part. Siyempre, ganun naman talaga sa buhay and I've seen him fight for it every time,” he said.
Monteverde furthered, “So seeing that kind of attitude, nakikita ko yung leadership niya. Siyempre, leadership would always start sa sarili mo eh, which I saw in him.
“I guess he's really the right guy for this job na being the captain of this team.”
Growth for Gold
And through it all, the veteran two-way guard will always be thankful to have been discovered and then developed by his longtime mentor.
As he put it, “Sobrang sarap sa pakiramdam kasi yung binibigay na trust sa akin ng coach ko, sobrang laki. Nu'ng high school pa talaga, yung trust, nandiyan na hanggang ngayon.
“Lahat ng gusto ng mga coaches, lahat ng mga gagawin namin, or game plan namin, sisikapin kong masunod ng mga players and ng team.”
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