Leo Austria admits being 'a little bit rusty' but still familiar in comeback as San Miguel head coach

Leo Austria is back as head coach of San Miguel on Friday, replacing Jorge Gallent who was appointed as consultant.

"A little bit rusty because I'm trying to figure out what's really happening. Medyo hindi pa nagsi-sink in," Austria said on the heels of the Beermen's 106-88 win against Terrafirma.

"Unlike before na every move of our opponent, I know what to do. But today, I just allowed them to run what they want. In some instances, off a timeout, doon lang ako nag-design ng play for them to know na I have something, especially 'yung game plan namin na kailangan namin in the future."

Austria said he was only informed of the coaching change on Thursday night.

"Sinabihan nila ako [to start] tomorrow, which is today. Hindi ako nakatulog because there's a lot of pressure. In the PBA, you cannot take lightly yung teams, you'll never know," he said.

With the abrupt change, Austria also said he was not able to fully prepare for the game against Terrafirma.

"Actually I don't have a preparation, but I'm helping the team to prepare for the game," he said. "Some pattern off the timeouts, doon ko lang ginagawa. It's really hard, even though yung kalaban mo, sinasabi natin kaya 'yung talunin. As I said, no team is easy to beat right now."

However, he maintained that he is still familiar about the system and is updated with the recent trends in coaching. 

"Because I'm involved in running the practice with Coach Jorge. I keep on watching the game, UAAP, NBA, all the games in the PBA. During the last World Cup, I was there watching the game. Probably it could help a lot dito sa comeback ko," he added.

Gallent was appointed as head coach of the Beermen in January 2023. Prior to this, Austria handled San Miguel from 2014 to 2022.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News