By REYNALD MAGALLON
San Miguel Beer forward Jeron Teng is determined to repay the trust that is being given to him by head coach Leo Austria.
After being relegated as a benchwarmer for the most part of the last two conferences, the 31-year-old second-generation player is getting more minutes in the rotation and he, through the first two games so far in the Philippine Cup, has been a solid contributor off the bench.
“When you have a coach who gives you the opportunity, you have to make the most out of it,’ said Teng who finished with 11 points, three rebounds and a steal in 14 minutes of play in the Beermen’s 110-98 win over the Meralco Bolts.
“I won’t take it for granted, and for me, I’m more focused on the defensive side, trying to guard the best opponents, ” he added, noting how defending against teammates CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano in practice has helped him develop his defense.
During his high school days at Xavier, Teng established a record by exploding for 104 points during a game at Tiong Lian tournament.
Austria, for his part, has said that he’s willing to give Teng more minutes after he impressed in practice and tune-up games especially on the defensive end.
“He deserves to get a lot of minutes because, in the last four weeks of training namin, he was doing well. In our tune-up games, he was able to control the scorers of our opponent, that’s why nakakita ako ng chance na bigyan siya ng time,’ said Austria.
“Alam naman natin, Jeron was a marquee player before, and I want him to get back to that kind of confidence he had before,” he added.
Taking a back seat from being one of the main man during his stints in Alaska and Converge to being part of the bench in the stacked San Miguel roster, Teng said he has been patient and just focused on learning from his veterans during the times he was not being utilized.
“Ako, I can’t say na walang frustration, but I see things as an opportunity to grow. Nung hindi ko nagagamit, I focused on learning from my teammates,” said Teng.
“They are winners, so I ask them questions, and kaya I don’t see it as a wasted conference. I was learning, and that didn’t stop me from working hard,” he added.
