The Varsitarian

AS CHAMPAGNE poured into the San Miguel Beermen dug-out, the limelight dwelled on a former UST Growling Tiger spitfire and now San Miguel head coach Bethune “Siot” Tanquincen.

He steered the country’s winningest ballclub in the 2009 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Motolite Fiesta Cup to its 18th championship crown, snapping the Beermens’ four-year title dry spell last July 17 at the Araneta Coliseum.

“I told the players before Game 6 that God gives opportunities. It is how you respond to these opportunities that will define you as a person and as a team, said Tanquincen, whose team bounced back from a 2-3 finals series en route to a classic fairytale sequel.

Incidentally, the dagger went straight into the heart of his former squad, crowd-favorites Barangay Ginebra Kings, the same team he led to the “Promised Land” during the 2004 PBA Gran Matador Fiesta Conference.

“In a way you would think it’s surreal but somehow, you would realize that this is our job,” he said, adding that going against his former team was a challenge because of the good relationship he had established with his former players, based loosely on respect.

Even before his stint as a youthful tactician in the PBA, the bench has been Tanquincen’s proving ground since his college days in UST, being a back-up guard and a second-stringer for the Tigers.

“I rode the bench for practically three years. I was just given sufficient playing time during my fourth and last year, [when] UST won the UAAP title,” he said.

The 5-foot-9 former Thomasian playmaker added that, although it was a humbling experience for him, he treated it as a chance to learn from the bitter lessons of reality that “one has to earn his stripes and wait for his turn.”

This turn eventually came in an unexpected form. In 2004, he was tapped to take over Allan “The Triggerman” Caidic as the head coach of the Ginebra Kings.

But a huge revamp hit San Miguel Corp.: former San Miguel coach Jong Uichico became the head coach of Ginebra in 2006, forcing Tanquincen to settle as assistant coach for the Kings. He soon reclaimed his position as head coach in 2007, but this time for a familiar team – the San Miguel Beermen – taking over erstwhile mentor Chot Reyes, who was then busy calling the shots for the Philippine Team.

This year, the virtually unstoppable San Miguel team posted a superior 11-3 win-loss record in the eliminations, catapulting it to the podium of the team standings for a semifinals berth. There was no stopping the title-hungry Beermen as they ferociously devoured the Burger King Whoppers in just six games during the semis, before their best-of-seven finals series upset of a depleted Ginebra lineup.

 “It was a blessing. We have a lot of injured players at that time [like Marc Pingris, Danny Ildefonso and Mike Cortez] but somehow we got an import fit for the chemistry of our team,” he said.

In planning the blueprints of a successful campaign, Tanquincen patterned his style of coaching from his former mentors. He learned the virtue of hardwork from his high school coach Vicente Chua; discipline and dedication from ex-UST coach Aric del Rosario, and the value of good preparation from erstwhile SMB head coach Uichico.

“I always tell the players that I don’t pretend to know a lot,” he said. “In fact, they might know more than I do. It just so happened I was assigned the position to make the final decision.”

Learning from the discipline-oriented Del Rosario, who started his practices at exactly 6 a.m. and did not obscure holidays except Holy Thursday and Good Friday, Tanquincen admitted that as a coach, he is somewhat a slave-driver. He requires long practice hours, lets his boys do things repetitively, and keeps on looking at different scenarios. However, once the players already get into the groove of his game plan, he begins to tone down.

“Mas mahirap kung papakawalan mo ang mga players bago mo sila rendahan. Mas madali kung rerendahan mo muna sila saka mo unti-unting pakakawalan,” he said.

Coaching alongside the unorthodox Pido Jarencio, assistant San Miguel coach, was also a big help, as the two combined their ideas to greatly boost their chances of winning.

“He’s a great help,” Tanquincen said. “Having somebody who also has great knowledge of the game, playing and coaching wise, is a privilege for us.”

It was not an easy task going against Ginebra’s sixth-man factor, but Tanquincen said this could work as a good test of his players’ mental toughness.

And although he had long hung up his Ginebra coaching staff uniform, he brought with him the “never-say-die” attitude of his former squad, helping him revive San Miguel’s legacy of winning championships.

“You can’t force somebody to have your own style or thinking. That’s the beauty of basketball,” Tanquincen said. “Everybody has the same destination but you could get to it in many different ways. That makes it more interesting.” Jeremy Perey