GAME SUNDAY
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. – TNT vs. SMB
ANY team can be disheartened in the most heartbreaking way after losing what appeared to be a game that was already in the bag—especially a series clincher.
Not the incorrigible San Miguel Beer.
“It’s very clear now, they never gave up. Especially in the last quarter, we’re down by 10 points, 60-70, and we’re able to score 100 points from 60. That’s huge for us. But the mindset of the players was really positive,” Beermen coach Leo Austria said. “Since we lost last time, everybody was so embarrassed and frustrated because it’s sure a win. But ganoon ang basketball, it’s a game of runs. Just like what happened tonight,
“They realized na talagang that even if we lost, the chance is still there because we’ve been practicing since March, it’s more than four months and then this is a golden opportunity for us. The players realize that they need to step up and everybody stepped up,” he added.
Austria spoke after his charges sent the Ginebra Kings home with a 100-93 victory in the knockout Game 7 of their best-of-7 semifinals showdown in the PBA Philippine Cup on a damp Wednesday night.
The gutsy win enabled the Beermen to redeem themselves from a painful 87-88 loss in the sixth match last Sunday night and more importantly gave them a shot at quelling the Triple Crown bid of the TNT Tropang 5G.
Game 1 of the race-to-4 title round in the season-ending tourney is set for Sunday, July 13, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Aside from the usual suspects reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez and the big outing from battle-scarred playmaker Chris Ross in the decider, Austria drew crucial contributions from his former Adamson University players in the UAAP—Don Trollano (10 points), Rodney Brondial (six), and Jericho Cruz (four).
“I think that’s the way how I coach it. If somebody, not only those Adamson boys, if somebody’s playing well on the court, he will stay longer, and that’s what happened,” Austria said. “Fortunately, these three guys that you mentioned are playing well and have good chemistry with Chris Ross and June Mar.
“So, I let them play and that’s what happened and they show what they can do and that’s it.”
Already fighting through a minor calf tear in the Last Four, the 6-foot-10 Fajardo, the Best Player of the Conference pacesetter, shrugged off a tightness on his right hamstring he suffered late in the second quarter.
“Masaya kami na makakalaro ulit kami sa finals,” he said. “Iyong ang pinaghahandaan namin sa conference na ito. Pero alam naman namin na hindi ganoon kadali na kalaban ang TNT.
“Kailangan naming gawin kung ano ang kailangan naming gawin. Paghahandaan namin sila.”
This Big Dance offers SMB a golden opportunity to end a three-conference title dry spell—and reprise what it did in 2011 when the then Petron Blaze Boosters foiled TNT’s grand slam quest.
