Leo Austria regained the coaching reins from Jorge Gallent just the night prior and immediately led San Miguel to victory in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
Leo Austria replaced Jorge Gallent as San Miguel head coach in an appointment made during the company's Christmas party just last night, Dec. 12.
Upon receiving an invitation in the event which usually just has the Beermen players in attendance, Austria went home as the squad's chief tactician anew.
"Actually, last night, we had a Christmas party with San Miguel Corporation. Lahat ng employees, last night. I was invited. Usually, all the players lang 'yan, but I was invited," said Austria, who steered San Miguel to nine titles as head coach from 2014 to 2022.
Jorge Gallent, replaced by Leo Austria as head coach of San Miguel, is in the team's sidelines during the Beermen's match against Terrafirma in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup on Friday, Dec. 13. | Photo (c) RM Chua/One Sports
"Then, all of a sudden, I was called up to go upstairs with the management. And that's the time they asked me if I can coach," he added.
The move was prompted by the Beermen's disappointing start to the conference. After prevailing against Phoenix in its opening assignment, San Miguel fell to back-to-back losses against NLEX and Rain or Shine.
"'We're losing, coach,' sabi niya. [I said,] 'Yes, boss.' [They said,] 'Okay, you will be back.' With the help of coach Alfrancis Chua, sinabihan nila ako, 'Tomorrow,' which is today," said Austria.
Though already bearing a stellar coaching resume, Austria still lost sleep following his regaining of his old role due to the pressure of the competitiveness in the league.
This, despite facing lowly Terrafirma.
"Hindi ako nakatulog because there's a lot of pressure. In the PBA, you cannot take lightly ang mga teams. Lahat competitive. You'll never kow what will happen," said Austria.
"Just like Terrafirma. They played last against Meralco. They lost only in the last possession. That's why I'm so happy to be back and win my first after long years on the sideline," he added.
Leo Austria barks instructions as he regains his head coaching position in San Miguel's match against Terrafirma on Friday, Dec. 13. | Photo (c) RM Chua/One Sports
Indeed, against the Dyip, the Beermen saw themselves only up by just four points, 73-69, early in the fourth quarter before breaking the game wide open.
They led by 20 points, 94-74, on new acquisition Juami Tiongson's trey with 5:46 to go and never looked back.
Thus, San Miguel returned to the win column for a 2-2 card while keeping Terrafirma languishing in the cellar at 0-5.
Lorenzo Jones paced the Beermen with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Backing him up was June Mar Fajardo, who turned in a monster game of 21 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists.
CJ Perez added 16 points and Don Trollano scored 10, eight in the fourth.
New acquisitions Juami Tiongson and Andreas Cahilig faced their old squad for the first time since the shocking trade that involved them together with former Beermen Terrence Romeo and Vic Manuel.
Tiongson turned in 12 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal in a little over more than 25 minutes on the floor while Cahilig had three points, three boards and one dime in more than 18 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, Brandon Edwards tried to lead the Dyip with his 18 points and the same number of rebounds.
Rookie Mark Nonoy logged 14 points while Louie Sangalang and Stanley Pringle each chipped in 11.
Manuel, stellar so far after getting more playing time with his new squad in Terrafirma, was held to 12 points, four rebounds and stumbled to four turnovers in nearly 25 minutes of action