MANILA, Philippines - For reigning Asean Basketball League Most Valuable Player Leo Avenido of San Miguel Beermen, the desire to capture the elusive crown after years of frustration in the regional hoops is stronger than ever.
League pioneer Avenido has had title-less stints with the defunct Brunei Barracudas and Singapore Slingers and current squad SMB in his previous seasons and he is determined to finally hit paydirt in 2013.
“MVP o championship? Syempre mas pipiliin ko yung championship kasi para sa buong team iyon, hindi lang individual (If I were to choose between MVP and championship, I’ll choose championship because it’s an accolade for the whole team, not just an individual),†said Avenido.
The 6-foot-2 guard (14.86 ppg, 3.71 rpg, 1.90 apg) came close to getting the best of everything in 2012.
He captured the top individual plum with his strong showing in terms of stats and efficiency ratings throughout the regular season and earned the votes of the different coaches.
His team, the Beermen, topped the eliminations and were heavy favorites to go all the way through right on their first season. However, they ran into a resilient Indonesia Warriors, who stunned the squad from Phl in three games, extending Avenido’s ABL career championship record to 0-for-3.
“Katulad nga ng sabi ni coach Leo (Austria), complacency ang naging problema noon; alam namin talented yung kami kaya dun lang kami nag-rely. Ngayon nagawan na namin ng paraan, nag-usap-usap na kami tungkol sa kanya-kanyang roles (As coach Leo Austria said, complacency and over-confidence did us in last year. We relied solely on our talents. Now we’ve had a change in approach, we’ve talked about what we should do and what our roles would be),†he said.
Avenido is among the few returnees from the 2012 team, along with Fil-Am Chris Banchero, Chris Luanzon and RJ Rizada. New acquisitions are led by imports Gabe Freeman and Brian Williams and former PBA MVP’s Asi Taulava and Erik Menk, who are joining forces in a commercial team for the first time, having been going at each other since their days in the PBL in the late 1990s.