By REYNALD MAGALLON
It is a setup that is not for everybody but it worked well for Meralco.
Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo took pride in the Meralco coaching staff after being recognized with the Baby Dalupan Coach of the Year award especially with the unique setup that had him and active consultant Nenad Vucinic leading the franchise to its first PBA title.
The entire Meralco think tank found themselves in a unique and historic pedestal being the award’s first recipient that is not only a single person but instead an entire coaching staff during the 30th PBA Press Corps Awards Night at the Novotel Manila in Araneta City, Cubao on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
The Bolts won their first PBA title in 14 years in the league and not even Trillo nor Vucinic would want to take the credit for the success as the team instead prefer to call it as a product of “collective effort of the entire coaching staff.”
“It’s hard because If you really think there were a lot of consultants who came in the past and nobody really won we were the first one to get it in a short period of time,” said Trillo, whose coach-consultant partnership with Vucinic was not entirely new to the PBA landscape.
Such a setup had already been done with Todd Purves and Biboy Ravanes at Petron, Rajko Toroman and Bong Ramos at Barako Bull and Bong Ravena and Mark Dickel at TNT but none of them translated to ch ampionships until Trillo and Vucinic did it.
For Trillo though, it was not only him and Vucinic, but the entire crew that also featured consultant and former head coach Norman Black along with deputies Gene Afable, Reynel Hugnatan and Sandro Soriano.
“It’s a combined effort. To me, showing each other respect, pressing the buttons. We will debate, we will talk but we will find ways pa rin then we will back each other up,” said Trillo, who himself once received the Baby Dalupan trophy in 2012 after he steered Alaska to a championship.
“I think people don’t know how hard it is to come out on top with a dynamic like that. I’m so proud of the work. I have the highest respect for coach Nenad, the way he acts, the way treats people, and my guys I have the highest respect for the coaching staff,” he added.
“We just have to keep the ball rolling.”
