Good guy finishes first
There are certain sayings about good/nice guys. Supposedly, only the good die young and nice guys finish last. There has always been some truth to this, particularly in sports, where it takes a little "nastiness" to make it to the top and stay there. In all their greatness, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have been spoken of as two of the most difficult teammates to have, in that they continuously push and push their teams almost to, if not beyond, the breaking point.
Some of the greatest coaches have also been the most critical, the most brutally honest, the take-charge kind who yell at their wards to get their point across, or who even in a quiet tone know how to hit them where it hurts. But, surely, it would be hard to argue with their success.
Particularly in the world of basketball, we hear a lot that players love their coach because he's a "player's coach". Many times, this means that the coach does not raise his voice much, is chummy with his players to the point that they feel comfortable around him, yet respect him for his strong character and wisdom, thus moving them to follow his instructions as best as they can. Supposedly, a player's coach can relate to his players, "speak their language", and sympathize with them.
I've followed all kinds of basketball for many years and, though not always, oftentimes, these alleged player's coaches are the ones who are fired within a few years (if they're lucky to be there that long) because their players started failing to respond. The "I'm your friend" type of treatment wore thin on the players and led to abuse, to exploitation of the nice-guy character that the coach tried to exude.
There are many coaches nowadays who radiate a nice-guy image to everyone. However, when it's time for team practice, game time, the image changes, and rightfully so. The demands of coaching call for discipline, rigorous training, and insane focus. We can all picture coaches yelling at players to "speed it up", "keep the ball bouncing" (off the backboard), and "finish the drill".
The question that comes to my mind then would be, "Can a basketball coach achieve the lofty goals in the basketball world without having to change his natural soft-spoken, laid-back character?"
Well, Meralco Bolts Assistant Coach Ronnie Magsanoc, Head Coach of the San Beda Red Lions, just led his team to the NCAA Seniors' Basketball Championship. At least, as to him, the answer to my question is a resounding, "Yes!"
I first learned of Coach Ronnie back when he was a player for the UP Maroons in the early to mid 1980s. He was a ball-handler extraordinaire, a great outside shooter and an orchestrator. He was part of the 1986 UAAP Seniors' Championship Team, together with other future coaches like Eric Altamirano (Head Coach at NU), Benjie Paras (Ronnie's Assistant at SBC), Joey Guanio (Assistant at NU), and Joey Mendoza (Assistant at UP).
A former San Beda Red Cub, even back then, it was clear he had a high basketball IQ. He played for the country countless times, and brought his smarts and outstanding lead-guard skills to the PBA, playing most of his career for Shell, together with Paras. He was called the "Point Laureate" because his game was beautiful, it was poetic, it was simple, yet efficient. He was named one of the 25 Greatest Players in PBA history. I was, and still am, a big fan of his.
After his pro career ended, he ended up doing commentary for a variety of sports, and he still does to date. I had a chance to work with him in 2005, when the SEA Games were held mainly in Metro Manila (Bacolod and Laguna were also hosts to some events), and we did commentary together in Track & Field and Football. He would always joke that a sprinter who wins an event just had "another rattling run", quoting a phrase used by my Yahoo! PH Sports colleague Ronnie Nathanielsz.
I learned then that, despite his legendary basketball status, he was down-to-earth, simple, kind, yet very funny in a sort-of deadpan kind of way. He was quick to smile, very accommodating, full of stories about basketball and other things. The tone of his voice was always gentle. He would never get too excited about a play, delivering his analysis without needing to be over-emotional, never having to shout. He never overdid it. Palaging tama lang ang timpla.
As his PBA coaching career began with Purefoods and continues to this day with Meralco, he was always within reach. He always replies to messages, apologizing if the reply comes belatedly. He never fails to say hello. Such an amiable, likeable fellow Coach Ronnie is. He sometimes appears on the PBA AKTV Center, and continues to provide viewers with informative, insightful views of the game at hand, or those past and still to come.
When named Head Coach of the Red Lions earlier this year, we all knew the task would be very, very difficult. San Beda faithful have grown accustomed to winning in recent years, and the fiery leadership of Frankie Lim was the prominent image of recent red glory. The contrast between the two coaches is striking, to say the least. Being close to many diehard San Beda fans, I asked their opinions at the time, and they expressed concern that Coach Ronnie might not be the right man for the job.
Early challenges due to player suspensions and a depleted lineup rudely greeted Coach Ronnie. But, through it all, in his usual cool manner, he would gesture to his players how to do things properly, softly speak instructions to them during huddles and lulls in the action. Every now and then, San Beda would lose a game, yet Coach Ronnie's demeanor hardly changed. He was calm and accepting either in victory or defeat. Yet, despite being at or near the top of the standings all season long, there remained murmurs of how he was "too nice", "kulang sa puwersa", etc.
Well, amidst all that went through in the San Beda camp, the NCAA Seniors' Basketball tournament ended last Friday, with the Red Lions putting all doubts to rest with an all-out shellacking of the gamely Letran Knights, who had tied the best-of-three series at a game apiece just a few days earlier.
The Lions raised Coach Ronnie on their shoulders, congratulations were all around, and the uncertain hiring of a new coach a few months ago turned out to be a stroke of genius. I hope the relationship lasts a long time since Coach Ronnie seems to be a good choice to lead the team to not just continued success in basketball, but in life as well. Despite the responsibility thrust upon him, the pressure placed on his shoulders, he, as always, spoke softly, but now carries a big championship trophy, showing all that indeed, nice guys can finish first.
Congratulations to Coach Ronnie Magsanoc, Team Manager and Yahoo! PH Sports blogger Jude Roque, the Assistant Coaches, and the San Beda Red Lions, for completing another run of three straight!
You can follow Charlie Cuna on Twitter @Charlie C.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
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