SAN Miguel Beer and Meralco try to bring their own adjustments to the table in their bids to even up the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals duels today at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
After narrowly losing the opening game of their best-of-seven series to the TNT Tropang Giga last Sunday 89-88, the Beermen are out to avoid being pushed into a 0-2 hole.
Ditto for the Bolts against the Magnolia Hotshots in the day’s nightcap.
How to pull off those equalizers against their opponents who are sure to stick to ploys that worked and, if not, make the necessary adjustments on the fly, is the big question.
Kelly Williams, still undergoing the league’s health and safety protocols, is sure to miss the game anew but Poy Erram, Dave Marcelo and Troy Rosario are the remaining TNT bigs expected to complement the offense that Roger Pogoy, Jayson Castro, and Mikey Williams will mostly generate.
For SMB coach Leo Austria, defense is not really a problem. Key, for him, would be his charges avoiding a repeat of their pitfalls in opener, which saw them commit 23 turnovers and give up a 6-13 disparity in second chance points that he blamed mostly for his side’s sorry loss.
“Kailangan ma-minimize turnovers,” said Austria. “Out of our 23 turnovers nakakuha sila ng 23 points. ‘Yun ang big difference, turnovers saka second chance points. We gave up only 89 points. Kung aalisin mo lamang nila sa turnover and second chance points, ilan lang score nila?”
There’s more, as far as Austria is concerned.
The bulk of the Beermen’s miscues were a direct result of the Tropa’s inside defense, resulting in both June Mar Fajardo and Mo Tautuaa each committing six turnovers each and limiting them to a combined 19 points.
Tautuaa was only able to launch five shots, leading to his six points that was almost just half of his average.
Despite that, SMB still managed to nearly overcome a 65-77 deficit in the last nine minutes and even had the chance to win it in the last nine seconds.
Austria insisted it should not have boiled down to that last offensive thrust which saw Marcio Lassiter missing an off-balanced drive. “Labanan hindi sa endgame,” he pointed out.
“From the start pa lang dapat consistent effort na para mag-accumulate ginagawa n’yo up to the end.”
The Magnolia-Meralco match is expected to be as closely-fought as the Hotshots’ initial 88-79 win, largely brought about when Calvin Abueva scattered eight points and had two steals that sparked and sustained the latter’s fourth quarter surge from a 63-69 deficit.
Magnolia coach Chito Victolero said whichever team maintains its composure should have the advantage.
“It’s always a tough game, always a dogfight. Both teams naman may pride iyan saka they have a system, they are a deep team also. Kumbaga, duguan bago ka maka-score,” said Victolero.
“So, it’s all about the discipline and execution. Nakita n’yo naman from start to finish close game. So siguro sa dulo lang magkakatalo talaga,” added Victolero.
The opener alone saw five technical fouls being called and emotions remained high even after the final buzzer, leading to Meralco’s Allein Maliksi and Magnolia’s Aris Dionisio exchanging some harsh words.
Victolero said keeping those emotions in check should also be a factor. “Only the start of the series pero kita n’yo naman kung gaano ka-physical, gaano ka-emotional,” he said.
“But I like the attitude of my players,” added Victolero. “I like their discipline and hopefully we’ll continue to do that as the series goes on.”
