TWO months after yielding the Philippine Cup crown, San Miguel Beer starts chase of what has been an elusive championship for the mighty ball club - the Governors' Cup.
June Mar Fajardo and his teammates are a dominant all-Filipino team, stringing up no less than seven crowns in the league's premier tourney in the last nine years.
And they have had their share of glorious rides in the Commissioner's Cup, winning championships in 2017, 2019 and last season.
But winning the Governors' Cup is proving to be a tough challenge for the SMC ball club, without success since striking once in the JMF era in 2015.
They were in a position to score a grand slam twice in 2017 and 2019, but missed the feat on defeats in the season-ending Governors' Cup.
A shuffle in the calendar may do it for the Beermen.
Sponsored content:
Coach Jorge Gallent and his chargers start pursuit of that goal with the help of import Jordan Adams as they slug it out with the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters and reinforcement Jayveous McKinnis at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen are once again a hungry squad especially with their shattering loss to the Meralco Bolts in the last all-Filipino finals. They lost the best-of-seven title dispute in six games.
They are reassembling with an intact core group in Fajardo, CJ Perez, Terrence Romeo, Don Trollano, Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, Jeron Teng, Moala Tautuaa, Jericho Cruz, Vic Manuel, Rodney Brondial and Simon Enciso.
A little change is the addition of Kris Rosales and rookie Avan Nava.
Import Adams is to add depth in the forward rotation, bringing in his reputation as a scorer with the UCLA. The 6-foot-5 Atlanta native played just two seasons with the Bruins, foregoing his remaining years of eligibility to join the 2014 NBA Draft where he's selected 22nd overall by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Sponsored content:
His first test in the PBA will be the Fuel Masters and import McKinnis, a small forward with Mississippi and later with his overseas teams, the latest that of Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus.(SB)