Shortly after the national team-laden Harimau Malaysia copped the Filbasket International Championship title last Sunday when it defeated Kuala Lumpur Aseel, 86-67, players formed a huddle at center court to celebrate the win.

A short talk from head coach Jeff Viernes followed; then, his jubilant wards circled around, carried him, and tossed him a few times into the air.

The club went an undefeated 6-0 in the week-long tournament, gaining valuable momentum ahead of the Malaysian national team's next campaign: the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 pre-qualifiers, which starts on November 10 in Mongolia.

Such unique moments are what fuels Viernes, 32, nowadays. Choosing the road less traveled, Viernes found his niche in Malaysia when local club NS Matrix offered him to be its ASEAN import for the prestigious 2017 Seri Mutiara Cup.

“I performed well during that tournament, so they asked me if I could play for them next year in the same Cup. I think I did well again, and the big bosses of NS Matrix told me to stay,” he shared.

No less than Stephon Marbury and his Chinese club Beijing Fly Dragons, as well as top teams from Serbia, Nigeria, and Taiwan were among those that participated in the invitational tournament.

Before the appearance, the former St. Clare stalwart was already becoming a staple in the Southeast Asian scene. He did try his luck in the PBA, although the Phoenix Fuel Masters discovered that Viernes had been involved in a “Ligang Labas” earlier in 2017.

This prompted Phoenix to release Viernes. Although unperturbed, Viernes also deemed it would be the best move to carve out a path elsewhere.

“It happened, but I didn’t let it affect my career. I was already in Thailand before I applied for the PBA draft,” Viernes said.

“I really wanted to play basketball. I may not have found it in the PBA, but I am thankful for opportunities in Thailand and Malaysia.”

When NS Matrix liked what it saw in Viernes, the team offered the guard to be a skills coach to help develop other local players.

In spite of this, the undersized playmaker managed to continue his playing career and juggle responsibilities. He had a penchant for being an all-around performer, as reflected by his solid numbers of 14.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists during the 2019 MPBL season for Batangas Athletics.

He was named to the South all-star squad for consecutive seasons. In the 2020 edition, he dropped 28 points, 6 boards, 6 assists, and 2 steals to cop the all-star MVP plum.

The NS Matrix' top brass then recommended Viernes to the Malaysian Basketball Federation. Viernes' first significant break as a basketball coach came during the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, when he became an assistant for the nationals under Australian Brian Lester.

Malaysia had underperformed, placing 6th. Lester then stepped down, making Viernes the interim head coach. Not long after, he signed a deal that formally promoted him to the position of chief tactician, letting go of his playing days in the process.

Aside from the men's seniors squad, he also supervised the 3x3 teams, and during the FIBA 3x3 U17 Asia Cup 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, Viernes helped steer the Malaysian girls to a breakthrough silver medal while the boys also reached the quarterfinals.

Sensing that the program had nowhere to go but up, Viernes recommended KL Aseel as a guest team for the Filbasket Summer Championship 2022.

"I kind of came in as the working team manager for KL Aseel, and made the connection for them to enter the Filbasket," he recalled.

Represented by the core members of the national team like Wong Yi Hou and Ting Chun Hong, the Aseel had a respectable 6-5 card for the 7th seed in the 12-team tourney. The team had to back out of the Filbasket playoffs in time for the 2021 SEA Games, but the build up resulted in a slight improvement as Malaysia placed 5th in the biennial sports spectacle.

Fast-forward to now, and Malaysia will fly to Mongolia in just a few days for the pre-qualifiers. The country has not made the FIBA Asia Cup proper since 2015, and Viernes will call the shots in hopes of bringing Malaysian basketball back on the Asian map.

While there is no pressure from the federation itself, the mentor is taking the important window as a gauge to see how far his players have come.

"If you’ll base it on rankings, we’re the lowest-ranked country among the five. But what I can assure is that the players have progressed. We can give a good fight," he stated.

"Personally, I need to pressure myself. I need to get at least a win for these pre-qualifiers. Every game is winnable. They can expect us to battle hard every game."

Malaysia will have a challenging task ahead, with games against the equally hungry Thailand, Mongolia, Tahiti, and Vietnam. Only the top three teams at the end of the round robin group stage will advance further into the pre-qualifiers, where it will join a new group alongside Guam and Singapore in February 2023.

In the pre-qualifiers, Viernes is banking on the chemistry of his team, having handled familiar faces for the last two years, save for a few new additions.

"What’s great about my team is that I also know my players a lot since it’s virtually been the same roster for about two years now. The only problem would be inserting our new players into the national team, the ones from other clubs," he added.

"They’re adjusting but I can see the progress in them slowly. They have the potential. We just need a lot of time to gel together and play with each other.”

But even then, what Viernes has learned is that in the ever-changing landscape in Southeast Asian basketball, nothing is guaranteed.

His contract is up in 2024. But he approaches every training session, every game, and every tournament with gratitude, knowing he has made his mark and that one day, he will be revered as a basketball icon in one of the most unlikely of places.

“What’s great about Southeast Asia is the progress. When teams get better, the competition gets better. And obviously, more livelihood will be there for basketball," he said.

“Hopefully, there are a lot more leagues coming. It’s better for ASEAN countries to keep on growing. Going up against the Philippines toughens them. These experiences help other countries.”