Air21 upbeat in moving forward

MANILA, Philippines - Air21 team manager Allan Gregorio said yesterday the Express is looking forward to opening a new chapter in its PBA history with four coaches under consideration to replace Yeng Guiao and a bright outlook in the quest for a championship.

Gregorio said two candidates, Leo Austria and Junel Baculi, have been interviewed so far. Another nominee Boyet Fernandez is not likely to quit as Meralco assistant coach. And a fourth possibility Bong Ramos is still in Brunei coaching the Barracudas in the Asean Basketball League.

“We hope to sign up a new coach in two or three weeks,” said Gregorio. “At the same time, we’re evaluating our options for an import. We’re seriously considering to bring back Leroy Hickerson. We know he measured 6-4 1/2 standing when he played for us last season but we understand from his agent that he’s definitely 6-4 if we measure him lying down. We’ll check if the PBA allows a remeasurement of a returning import. We’re scheduled to sit down with agent Cheryl Reyes who has two or three other options for us to study.”

Last Wednesday, Guiao went to the Air21 practice at the Reyes Gym in Mandaluyong and spoke to the players in an emotional 15-minute goodbye. “We owe a lot to coach Yeng,” said Gregorio. “It was classy of coach Yeng to visit us at practice. He reminded the players to stay disciplined, that it’s important to stay disciplined even in life after basketball. He mentioned that since the basketball community is small, we should build, not burn, bridges. Coach Yeng shared a lot of words of wisdom.”

Gregorio described Guiao’s departure as a mutual parting of ways.

“Coach Yeng accidentally bumped into Mr. (Raymond) Yu at the lobby of a hotel during the Christmas break and was asked about his contract,” said Gregorio. “At first, we thought his contract wouldn’t expire until Jan. 31 but we later learned it had expired Dec. 31. We met in the first week of January and came up with a win-win solution. It happened at a good time. Coach Yeng was given a good offer by Rain Or Shine and we were in the process of evaluating our team performance in the last four conferences. We were at the point of considering a new direction for our franchise.”

Gregorio said if no replacement is made for Guiao before the second conference opens in mid-February, he wouldn’t mind sitting on the hot seat. He has coached in the PBL and Liga Pilipinas and recently served in coach Rajko Toroman’s staff with Smart Gilas. At the moment, Gregorio is both Air21 interim coach and team manager.

“I’ve been running the team practices the last two weeks and the response has been very positive from the players,” he said. “’We’re definitely going for the semifinals in the next conference. We’re taking it a step at a time coming from making it to the quarterfinals. (Team owner) Mr. (Bert) Lina and (Air21 governor) Johann (Ramos) want to keep our team intact for a long period of time. We’re holding off on trades to retain our young core. We’ve had several offers for trades but we’re determined to build our team around our nucleus.”

Gregorio said he’s been encouraged by fans to apply as coach but at the moment, that’s not on his mind. “We’re going through a selection process,” he said. “If I’m invited by management, of course, I’d be interested to take on the job. It’s part of my personal dream to coach in the PBA – imagine going up against my brother Ryan and the other great coaches. But that’s not my priority. Our goal is to make our team competitive for a championship. We want to be a running team, like Air21 is known to deliver fast.”

In the last four conferences, the Air21 franchise has posted a combined record of 30-48. The team finished third in the 2008-09 Fiesta Conference with a 14-11 record but has since been eliminated in the first game of the last three wildcards. This conference, Air21 was booted out by San Miguel Beer, 97-75, in the wildcards and finished with a 6-9 record.

“We’re moving on and we’re all very excited about the future,” he said. “We’ve got three solid rookies in Rabeh (Al-Hussaini), Noy (Baclao) and Rey (Guevarra). We’ve got a relatively young team and our veteran players are leaders on the court.”

Last Saturday, Air21 engaged Smart Gilas in an exhibition game and lost a 107-88 decision at the Reyes Gym. Wynne Arboleda, Ronjay Buenafe, Al-Hussaini and Wesley Gonzales led the Express charge.