San Miguel's chances of advancing to the PBA Philippine Cup Finals may rest on how its bench would remain consistent for the rest of their best-of-seven semi-final series with Barangay Ginebra.
The Beermen's reserves play a key role in Friday's 102-90 victory over the Kings in the series opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with sophomore Von Pessumal leading the cause with a career-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 19 minutes.
Matt Ganuelas-Rosser played 21 minutes and had eight points and two rebounds while point guard Brian Heruela dished out four assists, complimenting the usual efficiency of the Beermen starting unit led by Arwind Santos with 23 points.
"We believe that we're as capable as the first group," Pessumal said. "Dapat ganun yung mindset ng bench diba? When we come in, dapat sustain or even high yung level ng play namin so that when the starters come back, it would be easier for them to close out the game."
Coach Leo Austria, known for giving his starters heavy minutes during previous title runs, had actually gave Pessumal, Ganuelas-Rosser and Heruela, among others, significant playing time in the eliminations with an aim at strengthening San Miguel's depth in the playoffs.
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Pessumal's highest scoring output since being drafted by GlobalPort in the 2016 draft was completed after making three of his four made threes in the fourth left little room for a tired Ginebra side to ignite a signature comeback.
The bench's performance was not lost on the Santos' mind despite being the primary reason for the victory with his 9-of-14 shooting.
"Ang second at third group namin nandyan at nakasuporta sa first group," said Santos. "Maganda ang pinapakita nila sa first game. Sana matuloy-tuloy nila hanggang sa dulo, makakatulong pa rin sila kahit papaano." (JT)
