Leo Austria credits insights from the 2023 FIBA World Cup for guiding San Miguel to the PBA title

The San Miguel Beermen came out on top in Game 6 against the TNT Tropang Giga, 107-96, at the Philsports Arena on Friday, July 25, to win the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

The Beermen, one of the powerhouses of the PBA, displayed their dominance once again by capturing their seventh Philippine Cup title in the last 10 editions of the tournament.

A large part of the credit goes to San Miguel head coach Leo Austria, who attributed their Philippine Cup triumph to the insights he gained during the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

“I’m so fortunate at the time na hindi ako involved sa team, because it was the World Cup season eh, na ginawa rito. I was able to watch most of the games — nasa Mall of Asia ako, Araneta — to figure out what’s really happening in basketball internationally. And I picked up a lot of things,” Austria said in the post-match press conference.

SMB’s Leo Austria now winningest PBA PHL Cup champ with 7th title, snapping tie with Baby Dalupan & Chot Reyes-SMB won a record 30th crown! Congrats SMB & salute to TNT for battling tough despite a depleted lineup! SMB averaged 104.5 pts in 4 Finals wins but only 87 in 2 losses

— Quinito Henson (@TheDeanQuinito) July 26, 2025

The 2023 FIBA World Cup was notably co-hosted by the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. Austria applied the lessons he learned after being re-appointed as head coach last December.

“That’s the reason why, if you noticed, our defense is different from the past. In-apply ko ‘yun sa team namin. I kept on watching the games and the tendencies of the players, the coaches. It helped a lot. That’s why itong mga players, pagbalik ko as head coach, nanibago sila. From Day 1, talagang we went back to the basics — from 1-on-1 to 5-on-5, both on offense and defense. And I was able to define the roles of each and everyone,” he added.

The learnings have paid off, as Austria has now won his 10th PBA title, not letting the frustrations of their poor performance in the Commissioner’s Cup affect him or the players. It should be noted that San Miguel missed the playoff stage for the first time since 2015.

“I think that situation gave us a lot of interest to play really hard in this conference because this is the All-Filipino Conference. I’m happy for these players, talagang nag-step up and they realized na this is our conference,” Austria concluded.

Major credit should also go to Jericho Cruz, who was named the PBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), and to Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo. The likes of CJ Perez, Don Trollano, Mo Tautuaa, and Rodney Brondial all contributed at various times during the tournament.

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