LIKE gladiators waging war in a fierce battle at a fabled venue on a historic night, San Miguel Beer’s poise spelled the big difference against defending champion Meralco.
It’s not that the Bolts don’t have the winning mentality and experience—SMB simply showed how it’s done, according to Beermen coach Leo Austria.
“Usually, I’m giving the players time to realize it. But unfortunately, during that time, they (Bolts) were able to make shots and we’re not making ours. So, I called a timeout and I told them, ‘So, you know what to do.’ We should go to the high-percentage shooting and we should not settle for a good shot. We want to settle for a better shot or the best shot,” Austria said. “Alam naman nila na in the endgame, we always go to our bread and butter and that’s the reason why our perimeter shooters talagang maganda iyong ginawa nila because June Mar was at the post.
“So, it’s give and take, and slowly, they’re realizing the importance of the system we’re trying to run,” he added.
Austria spoke after his charges essayed a 110-98 victory over Meralco for their second straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup last Wednesday night in a retro game commemorating the pro league’s founding anniversary at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The nine-time champion strategist was simply elated no end that the Beermen’s resolve prevailed—led by reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo—despite several comeback tries by the Bolts, who stunned them 4-2 in the finals of the same edition of the tourney nearly one year ago.
“Regarding the comeback of Meralco, from the first half to the second half until the last quarter, they were able to cut our lead to two. So, that’s a really scary moment for us, but because of the experience of the players, especially June Mar and some, they know how to win, how to deal with that kind of situation,” Austria said. “We know that this is a very historical game and before the game, I told him that this is a huge game for us.
“Besides that, of course, this is an All-Filipino tournament and we want to redeem ourselves from the last conference. I’m so happy for them because from start to finish, they didn’t lose their composure and then we were able to dictate the tempo of the game.”
CJ Perez showed the way for SMB with a game-high 29 points, to go five rebounds, and four assists with Fajardo pairing 28 markers with 10 boards, on top of four dimes.
Jeron Teng also had 11 for the Beermen, who went into the duel armed with a 98-89 triumph over the NLEX Road Warriors Saturday last week and moved to 2-0.
Meralco, which came off a 118-80 shellacking of Terrafirma last Sunday, absorbed its first loss for a 2-1 mark.
Like the Bolts, Austria said there will be no easy targets in the conference but his troops are more than willing to go through adversities to reach the Promised Land anew.
“I’m expecting them to do well because in practice, it’s very evident that they want to win and that’s the thing that we instilled to the mind of the players,” he said. “For us to win, we have to work harder because there’s a lot of teams that are playing really well and are catching up with the kind of talent we have.
“Nakaka-level up na sila and this is All-Filipino. There will be no easy games to win because you can see it naman, talagang napakagagaling na ng mga teams but we have to step up to the next level for us to be competitive.”
