By WAYLON GALVEZ
Ato Agustin remains the taskmaster of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel for now.
Agustin yesterday clarified reports that he has resigned after losing to the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers in seven games in the semifinals of the 2014 PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup.
“No, it’s not true,” said Agustin. However, Agustin is letting San Miguel Corp. management decide on his fate as coach of the Philippine Basketball Association’s most popular team.
“Wala naman ako nakakausap the past few days. Also from management, wala naman din ako nakaka-usap tungkol sa ganyan. I spoke kay Sir Al (team manager Alfrancis Chua), pero tungkol sa import ang pinagusapan namin. So wala, hindi totoo na nag-resign ako,” added Agustin.
Agustin said that the decision when it comes to his job would always be up to SMC management.
“Sabi ko nga, management naman talaga ang may decision when it comes sa trabaho. Kung sabihin na ako pa din, ok. Kung sabihin na hindi na, ok lang din. Pero so far, wala naman sinasabi sa akin,” said Agustin.
Rumors spread like wildfire in popular social networking sites Facebook and Twitter that the 50-year-old Agustin, a former PBA Most Valuable Player and one of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players, stepped down as mentor of Ginebra after he failed to make it to the conference finals last Wednesday.
The “Atom Bomb” during his playing days joined the Ginebra coaching staff prior to the Governors’ Cup last season. He was named as coach when Chua resigned.
Ginebra will have Leon Rodgers as its import in the Commissioner’s Cup.
The 33-year-old, 6’7” Rodgers, is known for his scoring abilities. He averaged 29.1 points in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) as a member of the Jilin Northeast Tigers where he played alongside former PBA Best Import and ex-San Mig reinforcement Denzel Bowles.
Rodgers, a former three-time MVP in the Dutch Basketball League (DBL), once scored 66 points highlighted by a CBA record 15 three-pointers in a 124-110 win over the Tigers against Shanxi Zhongyu on March 11.
Agustin said training for the Commissioner’s Cup resumes Thursday and expects Rodgers to be here on February 24.