IT was a classic case of the enemy helping its opponent win the battle.
“We’re really thankful they made the entire series very difficult for us,” said San Miguel Beer Head Coach Leo Austria the day after the Beermen beat the Meralco Bolts, 100-89, in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup semifinals series that was played to the limit of seven games.
“Most of our players are new and they don’t have that championship experience yet,” Austria said. “But the series made them very competitive and wise heading to the championship round.”
San Miguel Beer no longer has the core that won the team five-straight all-Filipino crowns. Gone are veterans Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos, who’re now with Terrafirma and NorthPort, respectively.
CJ Perez, Mo Moala Tautuaa, Vic Manuel, Jericho Cruz, Rodney Brondial and Robbie Herndon weren’t Beermen yet when the San Miguel Corp. franchise lorded it over the Philippine Cup.
Sure, 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo, the six-time Most Valuable Player, still dons the Beermen jersey and was his usual dominant self with 29 points and 14 rebounds, and Marcio Lassiter, too, with 16 points in Game 7.
But the rest of Austria’s crew stepped up when needed most with Perez making 10 points, Manuel 13 points and Cruz 12 points for the Beermen, who posted their biggest lead at 70-47 early in the third period on Wednesday night.
SMC management, Austria said, was also instrumental to the Beermen’s return to the Finals after watching their streak snapped in Covid year 2020.
“I would like to thank management, our sports director Alfrancis Chua, for inspiring us during our practice [before Game 7],” Austria said. “It’s a difficult series and the players learned from it.”
The San Miguel Beer-Meralco series seesawed with the Beermen winning the odd numbers games—127-97, 96-91 and 89-78—and the Bolts prevailing in the even number matches—99-88, 111-97 and 96-92.
Game 7, taking the trend into consideration, was destined to be San Miguel Beer’s.
The Beermen will be up against the team that snapped their all-Filipino streak—the TNT Tropang Giga, who finished off Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in six games.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven Finals is on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.