THEIR respective skids halted, defending champion San Miguel Beer and Blackwater seek to pump more fuel into their turnaround plans in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
And as they clash Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, one of them will make it two in a row and hopefully start a streak after a shaky start.
Buoyed by the return of multi-titled coach Leo Austria and the arrival of new import Torren Jones, the Beermen restored order off a two-game slide by trumping Terrafirma, 106-88.
Austria was reinstalled into the main post as SMB made a course correction after disappointing losses to NLEX (99-104) and Rain or Shine (107-93) that followed a lackluster 107-103 come-from-behind opening win over Phoenix.
Nine-time champion Austria was plucked from the consultant portfolio that he held since January 2023 to take over from Jorge Gallent, who slid to consultant in the process.
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"May marching order or wala (from SMC management), the expectation is really high for San Miguel," said Austria, who got his appointment Thursday night on the eve of the duel with Terrafirma.
"We're always pressured to win. Even though hindi nila sinasabing we have to win, a lot of people are not used to seeing San Miguel losing."
Meanwhile, the Bossing finally scored a breakthrough after a 0-3 start in the mid-season conference, taking down all-Filipino Meralco, 114-98, last Thursday.
This should embolden Jeff Cariaso's charges led by George King and Sedrick Barefield as they shoot for another upset against Jones, Fajardo, CJ Perez and the rejuvenated Beermen.
"We're learning that when we do things together, anything can happen," said Cariaso.
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"All we're asking from our guys is to go out there each and every night, understanding that it doesn't matter who we're playing against, it's always going to be a tough opponent.
Whether we're super undersized or just undersized or we don't match up well, we really just go out there and fight." (OL)
