Agustin triumphant in SMB coaching debut

In his debut game as head mentor of the winningest team in the Philippine Basketball Association, collegiate champion Ato Agustin wasted no time and proved his worth in the big league.

Just a few days after assuming his new post as the official head coach of San Miguel Beer, the former league Most Valuable Player brought a new identity inside the Beermen’s camp – one that refuses to lose.



That new identity was very much evident Sunday night in the Beermen’s come-from-behind 69-68 win over the Ginebra Gin Kings in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

“We want to establish a running team. We want to use our quickness, especially on the defensive end," said Agustin, who became the first former San Miguel Beer MVP to coach the team and the sixth former MVP since Robert Jaworski, Bogs Adornado, Ramon Fernandez, Allan Caidic and Kenneth Duremdes to become head mentor in the PBA.

“We were outhustled in the first half. We picked up the tempo in the third period when we made the adjustments on the defensive end," added the 1992 PBA MVP and one of the league’s 25 Greatest Players.

Although the new official San Miguel head coach didn’t give attribution to his team’s never-say-die attitude Sunday night, the new-look Beermen fought back from 21 points down by patiently making one stops after another and slowly but surely creating big plays to turn a one-sided game into an exciting match in this lowest-scoring game since Purefoods defeated Barako Bull, 70-66, in December 9 of last season.

The Beermen outscored the Gin Kings in the third period, 28-9, and turned a 31-46 deficit to a 59-55 lead by the end of the third period.

The Beermen’s defense went from aggressive to efficient in the fourth period as they held the Gin Kings to just a lone field goal in a seven-minute stretch.

That lonely stretch resulted to the Gin Kings downfall as the Beermen posted their biggest lead, 66-59, on a triple by Joseph Yeo, 7:06 remaining.

After Ronald Tubid’s failed three-point play off Yeo broke Ginebra’s silence from the field, the Beermen again held their counterparts without a field goal in the next three minutes.

Despite struggling from the field, the Gin Kings gallantly stayed in the game as a Willie Miller get away move shoved Ginebra within striking distance, 68-69, 41 seconds remaining.

The Gin Kings had a chance to snatch the win after making a good stop in the Beermen’s next offensive thrust.

Ginebra wasted a lot of time as the players didn’t hear Jong Uichico hollering for a timeout. When they finally heard their coach, it left the game clock with only six seconds for the Gin Kings to come up with a winning play.

Uichico decided to go to Miller, but the player considered as one of the best closers in the league dribbled the ball off his foot against the defense of Arwind Santos, enabling Agustin and his refilled Beermen to escape with their second win in three matches.

Scores:

San Miguel 69 – Santos 20, Washington 13, Cabagnot 11, Pena 7, Pennisi 5, Racela 4, Hontiveros 4, Yeo 3, Artadi 2, Tugade 0.

Ginebra 68 – Miller 19, Tubid 10, Caguioa 8, De Ocampo 6, Hatfield 5, Aquino 4, Wilson 4, Villanueva 4, Cortez 4, Intal 2, Helterbrand 2, Mamaril 0.

Quarter scores: 12-26, 31-46, 59-55, 69-68


Source:  GMANews.TV