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SAN Miguel Beer was once again foiled in its bid for a PBA Grand Slam, but there’s no denying coach Leo Austria’s achievement.
The fact was not lost on the PBA Press Corps, which awarded Austria a fourth Coach of the Year plum in the last five years after steering the Beermen to another stellar season in 2019.
Austria guided SMB to a fifth straight Philippine Cup championship following a thrilling seven-game series against Magnolia before he captured his eighth career PBA title at the expense of TNT in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Those were enough for the scribes regularly covering the pro league to give Austria the nod over Ginebra’s Tim Cone, the same master strategist who also denied SMB a season sweep during the 2016-17 season by winning the Governor’s Cup.
However, Austria has to wait a while before receiving the coveted Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan trophy in the annual PBA Press Corps Awards ceremony as the awarding rite, originally scheduled last March 16 at the Novotel Manila in Araneta Center and to be aired over Cignal TV, had been postponed indefinitely following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Still, Austria’s place in the record books is secured as he now occupies solo second in the all-time list of those who have received the trophy named after late ‘Maestro’ of Philippine basketball.
Since taking over the SMB helm in 2014, the 1985 Rookie of the Year awardee has already made history three years ago when he became the first to win the award three seasons in a row and earned the right to keep the Perpetual Trophy — first given in 1993 — permanently.
Austria lost to Magnolia’s Chito Victolero for the 2018 award, but the former’s latest hardware broke him out of his erstwhile tie with Cone and Ryan Gregorio.
Chot Reyes, the former Gilas Pilipinas mentor, tops the honor roll as the only five-time winner of the award.
Other multiple winners are Yeng Guiao, Jong Uichico, and Perry Ronquillo, all with two each.
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