San Miguel head coach Leo Austria believes his Beermen have won and played long enough together to be able to put up a good fight against a playing field that has upped the ante in the PBA offseason.
But in order to consistently compete for more titles, the eight-time champion coach understands that his top stars -- and the entire team, for that matter -- need to remain healthy throughout the course of a long campaign.
"Teams right now are really strong. It's very exciting," Austria said in Filipino on the Power & Play radio show hosted by former commissioner Noli Eala. "But if our team is healthy, we'll give them a good fight. That's my primary concern."
SMB's core has mostly been durable throughout eight title runs in the last six seasons, but injuries to June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo last year prevented the team from continuing its stretch of winning at least one title since 2014. Austria, however, is optimistic that both stars will enter the 2021 season with a relatively clean bill of health.
Romeo, who played only three games in the 2020 Philippine Cup before exiting the bubble with a dislocated shoulder, has been healthy since December, according to the 63-year-old coach. Fajardo, on the other hand, is well on his way to game shape after experiencing a bit of trouble in his rehabilitation process.
"June Mar experienced a setback, but he was able to recover due to the delays in the 2021 season," he added.
Austria revealed last March that the six-time Most Valuable Player winner underwent a minor procedure late December to clean up some infection on the right tibia he injured early in 2020. Since then, the coach said Fajardo has made tremendous progress.
"Before the lockdown last April, he was already starting on-court drills," he said. "He was supposed to join 5-on-0 basketball drills the following week, but we were all forced to rest because of the rising number of cases."
Asked whether Fajardo will be placed under some sort of minutes restriction once he gets back to action, Austria said it's a situation the team will continue to monitor throughout the season.
"I think at the start of the season, we'll need to study that," he said. "I'm sure after a 15-month lay-off, there will be a period of adjustment. What we want for him to do is to play and be back in his old form. It will take time, but I'm sure it will be easy for June Mar because of his discipline."