June 27, 2017

San Miguel Beer seeks commanding 3-1 series lead

Two-games-to-one up and all pumped-up, San Miguel Beer tries to push TNT KaTropa in a deeper hole at the resumption of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup title duel at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.

Game time is at 7 p.m. with another win by the Beermen to send the team on the doorstep of back-to-back championships and a first Commissioner’s Cup crown in 17 years.

What could well be an added inspiration for the Beermen is the likelihood of a twin win of SMB players as Best Import and Best Player of the Conference.

Charles Rhodes is likely to be the Best Import while either Chris Ross or Alex Cabagnot can well be the recipient of the BPC plum. The individual awards will be handed out before Game Four tip-off.

Then the Beermen and the Texters resume their battle, with the latter now riding the momentum of back-to-back wins after a narrow loss in the series opener.

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“We’re coming off a two-day rest and we have to be ready for their fightback,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

The Beermen, dealing the Texters a thorough beating in the last two games, will still face a TNT squad with Josh Smith as import.

An expected import change by the Texters didn’t happen even after the Monday meeting among coach Nash Racela, team manager Virgil Villavicencio and Patrick Gregorio, the team’s alternate representative in the PBA board.

Obviously, they decided they’re still better off with Smith. Or they’re gambling one more game with the wide-bodied import.

Racela was convinced they didn’t lose the last two games because of Smith but on their crucial errors.

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“We have to identify our problem with turnovers. We need to address that,” said Racela, adding they have to defend better particularly on SMB’s guards.

Austria said they didn’t actually make major adjustments after their Game One loss. “We just raised the intensity of our game,” he said.

“Our players know who are the players they need to stop. And it’s about pride. Our players don’t want to be like a shooting target of their opponents,” said Austria on their tough defense in the last two games.