COACH RYAN GREGORIO UNEDITED

Coach Ryan Gregorio and the Meralco Bolts are on a hot winning streak. With three straight victories, Coach Ryan and his boys are defying early predictions that it will take a long time before Meralco starts winning. In an exclusive interview, Coach Ryan reveals the secret to his winning ways.

1. How do you find your new team so far ? Are you satisfied with the way it is playing in the current conference ?
I am very, very hard to satisfy. But we're definitely making progress. We are on target in terms of where we want to be at this point. But I'm not satisfied. I am the type of person who once in a while gets happy. But satisfied, not yet. Not until we get the trophy.

2. Are you frustrated that you don't have the same talent in your present team as with the team you previously handled ?
Frustrated, definitely not. This is one of the reasons why I opted to take this new challenge. I want to develop new players. If you notice, early on in my career, I never had MVP's right away. But we were able to develop players. So we got an MVP, Rookies of the year, Most Improved players and 6th men. Those things don't happen overnight. So, I am happy with the kind of team that I have. Talent level, probably my team is not at par with my previous team. But I think with hard work, our players will reach the same level. We're seeing glimpses of good plays from Macmac, Chris Ross and even Gabby Espinas. But we're still pushing forward. Hopefully my players will reach their full potential in time.

3. What do you see as your team's strengths and weaknesses ?
At this point, I can see that we are getting our rhythm in the scoring department from defensive stops and converting on turnovers via fastbreak. If you look at the stats of the current conference, we are in the top 3 as far as fastbreak points are concerned and no.1 in forced turnovers. We are at no. 2 in points allowed, just behind Ginebra. So, those are great stats. But those are not enough. We have to lead in two or three other categories to secure more victories. But I am happy that our stats reveal that we are doing our best on the defensive end.

4. How far do you think Meralco Bolts will go in the current conference ?
As far as possible. I don't want to put a limit in our pursuit of excellence. Building a really good team, however, does not happen overnight. It's a daily thing. So, right now, we're improving everyday. We've won our last 3 games. We're on a winning streak. It's happening earlier than I expected. We're winning despite the expectations of jaded observers that it will take awhile before Meralco starts winning. But again, through our tremendous efforts, we're making non-believers into believers. And yes, we can if we set our mind to it.

5. You seem to have the winning touch as a coach. What is your secret ?
There is no secret. The secret probably is hard work. If you work hard, you'll be rewarded. If you don't give up, you'll be rewarded. So those are the things which keep our boat afloat. But the biggest factor I think is the newfound belief of our players in themselves. I have instilled a system wherein a player's strength is maximized. And right now, my players are starting to believe in themselves. It was hard at first because most of them came off losing seasons. And if you come from losing seasons, you're confidence level is at an all-time low. I think we've addressed that. Right now, we are just having so much fun playing. Our hard work is paying off. And we are not going to stop working hard.

6. How soon do you expect Meralco Bolts to become a major title contender ?
I hope sooner than expected. It is no secret that in order to have a high caliber team, you must have the right personnel. I think we need 2 or 3 more talented players to become a force to reckon with.

7. So do you plan to trade some of your players to make the team more competitive ?
That is something that is always on my mind. I am only as good as my players. I've identified what the team needs. We need a rebounder, a lock-down defender, a shooter to improve our 3 point shooting and a guard who will set the table for us. So we've identified the areas which we need improvement on. But even if we don't have the perfect personnel right now, we've been training and developing our players. But of course, trading players to improve our roster is at the top of my mind.

8. Why do you think fans have started to identify with your team ?
It's probably because of the way we play the game. Filipinos have the tendency to root for the David in the league. So we're the David of the league right now. That's why we're endearing ourselves to the Filipino fans.

9. Your team is not the typical rookie team in the PBA which loses a lot of its game in its initial appearance. In fact, your team is winning and on a roll. Do you think that fans are inspired by your performance that's why they tend to support you ?
Inspiring is a great term. That's what I told my players. If you're going to play the game, you're not there just to get the cash. That's a very, very low motivation for everyone. Every time you play, make sure that you can inspire people to be the best that they can be. And I think that's what we're doing right now. And that's what I think fans appreciate.