Petron dumps Ato, hires Rah-Rah

Coach O

In a move seen as soon as mid-way of the PBA Governor's Cup, the Petron Blaze Boosters unceremoniously gave the boot to sophomore head coach Ato Agustin and brought in another prized alum in Olsen Racela.

While Agustin was able to steer a then-depleted Boosters squad to a Governor's Cup crown in his first season, he failed to make the necessary adjustments required once the superstars came back. The tough task of having to spread minutes to a loaded line-up that features two elite PBA first five-worthy guys was just too much for Agustin, whose bread and butter as a coach has always been in squeezing out the best of his players who already have marked roles on the offense.

Once Jay Washington came back, Arwind Santos found it hard to stay effective in the system because of Agustin's failure to spread the floor for both versatile wings. Then there's the Fil-Am rookies Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter, who technically haven't played together but are expected to mirror the Washington-Santos fiasco. Then there's also the point guard problem featuring Alex Cabagnot and Denok Miranda.

While Cabagnot is the recognized starter who pushes the tempo and provides us with all the high-energy, very entertaining crossovers, no-look passes and clutch-nay-ballsy plays, it's Miranda who seems to bring stability and that much needed defensive mindset.

Expect Racela to solve that, being a point guard himself who had to keep his stars-- Danny Ildefonso and Danny Seigle (and later Dondon Hontiveros) happy at all times. Moving forward, it's better to invest in Cabagnot since he's just like Racela and plays for "show" (which is big in any sport).

Another plus for Racela is that he has a man named Rajko Toroman to serve as consultant. Though they were both battling it out for the Boosters' coaching gig, expect Racela and Toroman to be utter professionals being champion amateur coaches at certain points in their careers.

That, plus it protects the Boosters from heavy fire and backlash coming from the Pinoy coaches all around the world regardless.

You'd have to worry though about the pressure on Racela's shoulders-- the team is definitely on a "win now" mindset. After all, they did just dump Agustin who was on board for only six conference (resulting in one title which isn't all that bad).