September 20, 2018

San Miguel not taking cellar-dweller Columbian Dyip lighlty

IT MAY still be too early in the PBA Governors Cup, but San Miguel Beer must steady its ship, right now.

No less than coach Leo Austria expressed this urgent need. "We cannot afford to wait," he stated.

"The other teams are pulling away at baka tuluyan kaming mapag-iwanan kapag hindi namin agad inayos sarili namin," added Austria. "Isang panalo, isang talo malaking bagay sa standings, sa mga nangyayari ngayon."

A win over cellar-dwelling Columbian Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum should help SMB get back on course and make its expected run deep into the season-ending tournament's playoffs.

The Dyip have been winless thus far, but could easily score a breakthrough over an unwary opponent.

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Columbian almost did in its last outing Sept. 2, dragging TNT into a grind-it-out affair before dropping a 114-118 overtime decision.

"Steadily improving ang Columbian kaya hindi p'wedeng i-take sila for granted," noted Austria.

Although currently running at seventh following its first two games SMB is actually not too far behind and could easily make up for lost ground.

But coming up for the Beermen is a tough stretch in which they would be taking on the league's usual heavyweights, starting with Barangay Ginebra on Sunday. Next is Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok, followed by Alaska, Phoenix and TNT in that order.

"Kailangan namin ng momentum," said Austria. "Iyun ang magbibigay sa amin ng kumpityansa going to our next game kaya talagang must win for us. Mahirap maghabol."

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Main reason why he sorely wants his charges to parlay the drills they have had since a shock 100-103 loss to Blackwater last Sept. 5 into game and get the much-needed momentum going to their upcoming matches.

With June Mar Fajardo still out due to his shin injury, the burden falls squarely on Christian Standhardinger, AZ Reid, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross to lead SMB back on track.

For its part, Columbian would be banking mostly on Akeem Wright, Jerramy King, Rashawn McCarthy, Russell Escoto, Eric Camson and Glenn Khobuntin to break the team out of its funk.

The team formerly known as Kia has now dropped its last 21 games in the Governors Cup.(NC)