The Green Archers will have a new man at the head coaching helm this year. But he is actually not a new face to the team.
DLSU has officially announced that assistant coach Louie Gonzalez will now call the shots following the departure of Aldin Ayo. He will be assisted by Glenn Capacio, Siot Tanquincen and Anton Altamirano.
Now who is Louie Gonzalez? This perhaps would be the most common question for most followers. After all, aside from not being a La Salle alumnus, he remains to be relatively unknown in mainstream basketball consciousness. One thing is for sure though, when it comes to coaching experience, he has a lot of it.
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY'S OFFICE OF SPORTS DEVELOPMENT: pic.twitter.com/frauwnYECp
— DLSU Sports (@dlsusports) January 4, 2018
Also a graduate of Letran, coach Louie has assumed the deputy role in various leagues. He was an assistant to Binky Favis when the Knights won the 1999 NCAA title in which Ayo was one of the players in the team. He is a long-time assistant to Glenn Capacio with FEU, Global Port, Air Asia and Kia. The past few years saw him being part of Ayo’s coaching staff in Letran and just recently, with the Green Archers. He is also the secretary general in the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines and is very active when it comes to the development of the sport in the grassroots level such as the PSC and the Jr NBA.
When it comes to being a head coach, he had brief stints with the British School Manila and with MP Hotel-Letran in the PBA D-League.
Coach Louie has been credited as the architect of “Mayhem”. His appointment as head coach will ensure continuity and there will be no major adjustment for the players. He will have good support with Capacio and Tanquincen, both of whom have solid experience when it comes to coaching in the collegiate and professional ranks. With the inclusion of Altamirano, who has been appointed as the coach of Team B late last year, we expect that there will now be much focus on player development – something that appears to be lacking in the program for the past several years.
The team has been on a coaching carousel since the start of this decade. We made the switch 5 times since 2010 and only one has lasted for more than two seasons.
Let’s face it, being the coach of the Green Archers comes with extremely high expectations. The “win now” culture is something that will not change and it’s up to the coach to embrace the challenge and make the most out of the support given to him.
We hope that Coach Louie would be the guy who not only will lead the Green Archers back on top but also bring long-term success and stability to the men’s basketball program.
Well at least for one game we were able to witness what he can do.
#TBT
Oct 2, 2016DLSU 97 ADMU 81
No Jeron Teng due to injury
Aldin Ayo 1 game suspensionActing Head Coach: Louie Gonzales pic.twitter.com/QnZXS7I1vS
— GoArchers (@GoArchers) January 4, 2018