By REYNALD MAGALLON
Converge head coach Aldin Ayo continues to prove that his coaching wits truly belongs to the big league.
Right on his first conference, the rookie coach had now collected big wins over some of the seasoned coaches in the PBA, including grand slam coach Norman Black, five-time PBA coach of the year Chot Reyes and nine-time champion Leo Austria.
And as if that was not enough, Ayo had also added seven-time champion Yeng Guiao to that growing list after Converge nipped Rain or Shine 102-101 on Sunday, Nov. 13.
While Ayo was elated to have the FiberXers win their seventh straight game in the conference and officially book a spot to the playoffs, he was also quick to play down the feat of beating the champion coaches along the way.
“I’m humbled by that but a long way to go marami pa akong kakaining bigas,” said Ayo while deflecting the credit to his players who carved their way out of a 17-point hole to pull off the reversal in the final frame.
“It just so happened na nag respond yung mga players, na magaling yung import namin and just so happened na yung mga players committed sa mga ginagawa namin. I think it would be unfair kung icocompare ako sa mga iyon because it is just my first conference and mga iyon ilang championships na mga proven na iyong mga yun,” he furthered.
But still, that couldn’t deny the fact that Converge had taken the PBA by storm under Ayo’s watch. The FiberXers have now advanced to the playoffs for the second straight conference since joining the league this season.
However, their Commissioner’s Cup run, where they are still in contention for one of the Top 2 seeds is nowhere near their All-Filipino Cup performance when they had to make a late run to cling onto the seventh spot of the standings.
Ayo, though, refused to make a big deal on the sudden rise of Converge following two contrasting campaigns.
“It’s different. It was all Filipino and this time we have our import, and we have a very good import in Quincy (Miller), that’s one factor,” explained Ayo
“To be fair with coach Jeff Cariaso, when he took over last conference, he had a short time to prepare so I can just imagine yung sitwasyon ni coach Jeff last conference. This time we had one and a half months to prepare and I think it really made the difference,” he added.
Despite the winning run, Ayo said Converge is still not satisfied with their performance as they eye to move up further in the standings and bag the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarters
.
“Nandun na may habit na. Di lang kami pwedeng maging complacent sa ginagawa namin and we make sure we stick to the system and be good at it and be the best in doing it.”
