MANILA, Philippines – The mentor of Meralco, Luigi Trillo, praised the collaboration of the entire coaching staff, including active consultant Nenad Vucinic, despite the unconventional arrangement that ultimately resulted in the Bolts’ historic PBA championship last season in the Philippine Cup.

The cliché rings true – team work makes the dream work. 

Trillo recognized the teamwork that went into the victory of the Bolts in the season’s last conference. This team effort included deputies Gene Afable, Reynel Hugnatan, and Sandro Soriano, as well as former head coach and current team consultant Norman Black.

At the 30th PBA Press Corps Awards Night on Tuesday at the Novotel Manila in Araneta City, the whole Meralco coaching team was presented with the Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan Coach of the Year trophy in recognition of their achievements.

For the first time in the Press Corps’ existence, the ‘Maestro’ of Philippine basketball coaching was honored with an award that recognized the entire coaching team rather than just one coach.

When accepting his latest honor, Trillo underlined the value of respect for one another and teamwork. He pointed out that the team’s accomplishments are the result of a team effort, and that cooperation, candid discussion, and open communication are essential to reaching their objectives. Even though there are disagreements and disputes within the coaching team, Trillo recognized that they always manage to encourage one another and strive toward a shared goal. He feels that this strategy improves the team’s cohesion and performance as a whole.

Trillo and Vucinic have shared coaching responsibilities ever since Trillo was appointed the team’s full-time head coach, replacing Black. The strategic and operational success of the team has been largely attributed to their collaboration. They have been able to lead the squad through difficult circumstances and keep a significant competitive edge by pooling their talents. Under Trillo’s direction, the squad has succeeded because of a culture of mutual respect and cooperation in which each coach contributes significantly to the team’s success. The team’s continued progress toward greater achievement is fueled by this trust-based dynamic.

The setup has been tried before by a number of people, including Mark Dickel and Bong Ravena at TNT, Todd Purves and Biboy Ravanes at Petron, and Rajko Toroman and Bong Ramos with Barako Bull.

Before Meralco arrived on the scene, none of them had any success with the formula.

Trillo was really proud of the teamwork required to get his squad to the top, especially in such a demanding and fast-paced atmosphere. As he considered the effort required, he pointed out that many people might not realize just how hard it is to achieve with a complex coaching structure such as theirs. Despite these difficulties, Trillo is nevertheless immensely proud of the effort his team has made to meet their objectives. His prior success with Alaska, where he won the Coach of the Year award after leading the team to its final league title in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup, further emphasizes his ability to produce results at the highest level. His leadership and experience have been invaluable in guiding the team.

In addition, Trillo conveyed his admiration for Nenad Vucinic, his fellow coach, highlighting his leadership qualities, professionalism, and manners with the players and coaching staff. Trillo acknowledged the effectiveness of their cooperation and emphasized that the team’s success is mostly due to their mutual regard for one another. He emphasized this regard by praising the coaching staff as a whole and stressing the need of their cohesiveness in maintaining the team’s momentum. According to Trillo, the key to winning is to stay focused, keep moving forward, and “keep the ball rolling,” meaning that everyone must pull in the same direction.

As the team’s active consultant, Vucinic redirected the attention to the Meralco players, praising their diligence and dedication to the system. By the time he was 59, the Serbian consultant realized that with all the pressure the players were under all season, they had to put up with a lot from the coaching staff. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the participants put their faith in the procedure, embraced the framework, and put forth great effort to live up to the standards set for them. Vucinic conveyed his appreciation to the players for their perseverance and commitment, which eventually resulted in their championship win.