Jeron Teng played 13:17 minutes in the San Miguel Beermen’s 98-89 win over the NLEX Road Warriors on Saturday. It’s not much, really, but for someone who rarely saw action in the Governors’ Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup, those minutes are something to build on. And it looks like coach Leo Austria is more than willing to give those minutes.
Apparently, the 31-year-old former La Salle Green Archer has earned it.
“Jeron is deserving of a lot of minutes because in the last four weeks of training namin, he’s the one doing well. Wala kang masasabi sa kanya in terms of attitude, work ethic, first player to come to practice and last player to leave,” Austria bared in the aftermath of San Miguel’s win over NLEX.
Austria also issued a bit of a warning to the players ahead of Teng in the San Miguel depth chart: He won’t hesitate subbing them out in favor of Teng if they don’t perform up to par.
“I’m so happy for him because he didn’t lose his confidence, kept on working hard. Some of the players, talagang namo-motivate niya because ‘yung mga kaposisyon niya cannot relax because any time Jeron will be a good substitute for them.”
Jeron Teng Makes the Most of His Hard-Earned Minutes
Indeed, Jeron Teng proved he could provide quality minutes, chipping in 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal in his 13:17 minutes. He could’ve gotten to double-digits as well as he got to the line eight times—the most of any Beerman on Saturday—but made only four.
Teng also took some turns defending the singularly brilliant Robert Bolick and gave a good account of himself in that aspect, too. And it looks like Austria is expecting Teng to do just that: cover the opposing team’s best scorers.
“In our tune-up game he was able to control some of the scorers of our opponent. that’s why nakakita ko ng chance na bigyan siya ng time,” Austria said. “Alam naman natin na Jeron is a marquee player before, and I want him to get that kind of confidence he had before.”
Jeron Teng looked pretty confident in San Miguel’s first game of the 2024–25 PBA Philippine Cup. And after several DNPs in Season 49 already, there’s no way to go for him but up.
Austria appears to be banking on it.
