Leo Austria

Leovino R. Austria (born March 14, 1958), better known as Leo Austria, is a professional basketball player and former head coach of the Welcoat Dragons in the Philippine Basketball Association from Sariaya, Quezon. Prior to this, he was a former professional basketball in the said league and was the 1985 PBA Rookie of the Year. He later became the head coach of for Chowking, Shark Energy Drink and the Welcoat/Rain or Shine franchise in the Philippine Basketball League, the Shell Turbo Chargers in the PBA and the Adamson Falcons during the 69th UAAP season.

Playing career

Austria played his college basketball for the Lyceum of the Philippines University while also suiting up in the commercial Philippine Amateur Basketball League. In 1984, Austria was named the Most Valuable Player of the Ambassador's Cup before joining the PBA.

In 1985, new team Formula Shell drafted Austria, aside from nabbing fellow PABL standout Sonny Cabatu in the said draft. Austria made a quick impact for the new but veteran laden Shell squad and won the Rookie of the Year honors at season's end. His average of 3.9 points per game for the 1985 season marked the lowest average for a Rookie of the Year awardee up to that time. citation |last=Santos |first=Rickie |date=1990 |title=1989-1990 PBA Annual |page=90 |publisher=Philippine Basketball Association |place=Pasig City, Philippines ] During his stint at Shell, Austria played backup point guard for Bernie Fabiosa, Al Solis, then Ronnie Magsanoc. Austria later played for Pepsi and was out of the league after the 1993. In 394 games played, he averaged 4.5 points a ballgame. He had been known for his three-point shooting.

In 1998, he was awarded the Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan Award for sports in 1998. The QMK Award is being given to outstanding Quezonians who exceled in their chosen fields. In 1999, Austria suited up for a few games as a playing coach for his team Chowking due to injuries of his point guards.

Coaching career

Philippine Basketball League

Austria's first coaching stint was for Chowking during the late-90's. During those days, he steered Chowking to numerous semifinal appearances but were unable to clinch a finals appearance against powerhouse teams Tanduay, Red Bull and Welcoat.

After Chowking was renamed as Shark Energy Drink in 2000, Austria led the team to two titles in four finals matches against Welcoat from 2000-2002. Austria coached a team led by Chester Tolomia, Roger Yap, Ervin Sotto and Gilbert Malabanan.

In late-2002, Austria moved to former rival Welcoat Paints as its new head coach after returning from a one conference absence. With a star-studded lineup of Rommel Adducul, Paul Artadi, Eddie Laure, Ronald Tubid and Marc Pingris, he led the Paintmasters to the 2002 PBL Challenge Cup championship over Dazz in a three-game sweep.

Austria later led Welcoat to a runner-up finish in 2003 with James Yap as one of its star players.

hell Turbo Chargers

In 2004, Shell dismissed American head coach John Moran and named Austria as its new head coach, 19 years after starting his PBA career with the said team. This led to Austria leaving the Welcoat franchise for the big leagues. During his only season with the Turbo Chargers, Austria coached a young but talented team of Tony Dela Cruz, Tubid, Rookie of the Year Rich Alvarez, Billy Mamaril and Roger Yap to two semifinal appearances and a third-place finish in the 2005 Fiesta Conference. However, Shell disbanded after the 2004-05 season and moved back to the amateur ranks.

Adamson Falcons

In 2005, Austria was named head coach of the Adamson Falcons in the UAAP replacing Mel Alas after a disappointing 3-11 stint. With Austria at the helm, the Falcons made to their first-ever Final Four appearance since the format was introduced. However, they were eliminated by the Ateneo Blue Eagles in a closely-fought semifinals. But, individual players blossomed with Ken Bono winning the UAAP MVP.

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters/Welcoat Dragons

In 2006, Welcoat bought the Shell franchise to join the PBA as its 10th member. With this development, Austria was renamed head coach of the Welbest franchise, this time carrying the banner of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in preparation for their PBA debut. The Painters placed third in the 2006 PBL Unity Cup in the team's final conference.

Austria was formally named as the head coach of the Welcoat Dragons in the PBA and currently coaching a young Dragons in the 2006-07 PBA Philippine Cup.

References

External links

* [http://www.mypbl.com/20PBLplayers.shtml The top 20 players of the PBL]
* [http://www.inq7.net/spo/2004/mar/25/spo_1-1.htm Ex-player Austria named new Shell Turbochargers coach]
* [http://quezon.gov.ph/qmk/archive.html Past Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan awardees (Leo Austria was awarded the QMK for Sports in 1988)]