Former NBA coach prepares San Mig Coffee for title defense

MANILA, Philippines –  The San Mig Super Coffee Mixers have no intentions of slowing down after their Grand Slam season.

As the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) 40th season nears, the Mixers are in the thick of preparations for their bid to defend their crown and win a 5th straight title in the Philippine Cup conference. And if the presence of former NBA assistant coach Tommy Newell at the team’s practice on Thursday, October 9 is any indication, it seems the Mixers don’t plan on giving up the championship trophy just yet.

“We have coach Tommy Newell here. He’s here helping me out, working on our fundamentals and our mental approach to the game,” said San Mig head coach Tim Cone of the new face instructing the players.

Newell, a former assistant coach to the Dallas Mavericks and the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder), is booked for a one week engagement with the Mixers and will be leaving on Monday for other coaching clinics in Hong Kong and China. 

Cone explained he wanted Newell specifically to provide a new experience for the team and give them a breath of fresh air after working hard for 4 consecutive titles this past PBA season.

“He’s just lending a different voice to what I always tell the guys. I talk to them so much and yell at them so much so it goes in (one ear) and out the other ear. But they hear a different voice, someone new, and he’s kind of saying the same things.”

The one-week program entails 3-hour practices twice a day. On Thursday, Newell was seen teaching the Mixers some moves which allowed them to create some separation from their defenders and either pull up for a jump shot or drive strong to the basket. 

“My work with the Mixers will be with the Posts and Guards, helping them with “counters” on Read React Attack moves within their Offense,” Newell wrote in a blog post on his website, where he also mentioned he had already visited the Philippines this past June to help out a charity.

Newell was head coach of a Greek professional team in 1995 and has coached in 47 different countries around the world, including China and Japan. His father is the late Pete Newell, an American college men’s basketball coach considered as, according to Cone, “one of the legends of basketball” and is an influential figure in the sport.

The 2014-15 Philippine Cup is set to tip off on October 19 at the Philippine Arena. The Mixers will be playing their first game of the season on Wednesday, October 22 against the Alaska Aces. – Rappler.com