From one Mr. 100% Performance awardee to another.
In the history of the Philippine Basketball Association, only two imports were given such special award for setting a gold standard of excellence among resident reinforcements who saw action in Asia’s pioneering professional hoop loop — Norman Black and Sean Chambers.
While both of them enjoyed success in the PBA as imports, Black’s legend grew even more in the coaching circuit where he became one of the most successful bench tacticians ever, winning a total 11 titles in the pro league, capped by a grand slam in 1989.
In the collegiate circuit, Black also brought his winning ways, capturing five straight crowns in the UAAP as coach of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Similarly, Chambers also became a part of a grand slam team, but as a player while reinforcing Alaska in 1996. He shares the most number of championships won in the PBA with Justin Brownlee of Barangay Ginebra with six titles.
But Chambers had just recently embarked in a coaching career in the Philippines and his debut looked more promising when he led the Far Eastern University Tamaraws to a third place finish in the Filoil-EcoOil Preseason tournament.
Photo credits: Sean Chambers’ Facebook/Retro PBA Facebook
Being a part of the Tim Cone coaching tree, his old mentor could only be more proud seeing one of his branches now starting to grow this early.
“Sean coaches the right way. He’ll always be successful wherever he goes. He knows how to coach and he knows how to relate to young men. Perfect combination,” Cone, the winningest coach in PBA history, wrote in a Viber message to PInoystep.com.
Coaching younger players wasn’t new after all for Chambers, who had been attached even to kids back when Alaska was still involved in the NBA Jr Camp.
Chambers had also helped Alaska as a special consultant where the American player frequently visited the country from time to time, a few years after he officially retired from playing and helped the team in its build up.
He played a similar role just recently to TNT where he helped long-time teammate and PBA champion coach/manager Jojo Lastimosa during the Tropang Giga’s preseason training camp at the Inspire Academy in Laguna.
But Chambers also had an experience handling a women’s basketball team, the Antelope Lady Titans.
Chambers’ connection with young players, sets him apart from the other great players, according to Cone and that third-place finish with FEU, a team which he will be handling in the coming UAAP season, is a promising indication of great things to come.
This early, Chambers appeared to be headed to take the similar successful coaching path of Black and become only the second import in PBA history to win a coaching title.
Several imports were also given opportunities to be a part of that elite circle — Glenn McDonald during the early 1980s as coach of U/Tex and Bobby Parks, briefly with Shell in the PBA, and San Miguel in the Asean Basketball League — but no one came close to matching Black’s feat.
Chambers is off to a good start and Cone won’t be surprised if his former player similarly takes Black’s successful path.
“I’m sure you can make a lot of similarities between the two,” added Cone.
