The upcoming week in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup semifinals will be nothing short of epic.
At the rate things are going, San Miguel could be in line to finish off Rain or Shine in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup semifinals this week.
Ahead 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, the Beermen ought to keep their foot on the Elasto Painters’ heads since they cannot afford to give this “well-balanced team” an inch.
After a narrow 101-98 win over Rain or Shine in the series opener, SMB coach Jorge Gallent expressed his admiration for the Rain or Shine crew led by coach Yeng Guiao.
“Rain or Shine deserves to be in the semifinals. They're a great team. They're young, they're great. If they don't deserve to be here, they wouldn't be here,” said Gallent.
“Rain or Shine, you're saying, is just a team here? No, it's a good team. It's a well-balanced team. And it's well-coached.”
[RELATED STORY: PBA: ‘Well-coached’ Rain or Shine deserves to be in semifinals, says San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent]
The Beermen did a better job on both ends behind PBA Press Corps-Pilipinas Live Best Player of the Week June Mar Fajardo — who posted averages of 23.3 points, 14.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks since the quarterfinals — and made quick work of the Elasto Painters, 106-89 in Game 2 last May 19.
[RELATED STORY: Dominant June Mar Fajardo is PBA Player of the Week]
That’s something Gallent and the rest of the Beermen hope to build on heading into the succeeding games.
“At least now we did a better job sprinting back on defense and getting better shots than Game 1. We just have to do the same in Game Three and pick our energy up and keep on pressing the gas,” said Gallent.
[RELATED STORY: 'That will be a very special moment for me' | Marcio Lassiter climbs to 3rd, on track of topping all-time PBA 3-point list]
Meanwhile, Ginebra coach Tim Cone was left with more questions than answers after Meralco tied their own series at one-game apiece with a 103-91 win, despite a 41-point effort by Christian Standhardinger in Game 2.
Among those questions was how to get his wards to Ginebra’s brand of basketball in Game 3 after the Filipino-German was forced to put on a one-man show.
“Their (Meralco Bolts) game plan was obvious: Put the ball in Christian's hands and make him beat us from the line. He was almost up to the task. He kept us going, kept us in. But they did a good job shutting everybody else down,” Cone said of the defensive-minded Bolts.
“We need to get contributions from everybody. We didn't get that tonight.”
[RELATED STORY: 'Statistic-related stuff' not in Christian Standhardinger's mind as he posts career-high 41 in Ginebra's Game 2 loss to Meralco]
But in what is shaping up to be another classic series in this modern rivalry, expect the Bolts to capitalize on this victory.
Unlike the Gin Kings, heroes were aplenty for the Bolts in Sunday’s win.
There’s Allein Maliksi, who couldn’t connect from deep but still managed to come up with 25 points. Then there’s Chris Newsome, who was awesome on both ends of the floor and ended up with 20 points.
Cliff Hodge did his thing and finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“I think we’re more aligned today. But there are still some things we need to improve on. We know they’re gonna comeback, we just have to be ready,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said after the win.
Check out this week’s schedule of the semifinals:
Wednesday, May 22 | Dasmarinas Arena
Rain or Shine vs. San Miguel - 4:30 p.m.
Meralco vs. Ginebra - 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 24 | Mall of Asia Arena
Ginebra vs. Meralco - 4:30 p.m.
San Miguel vs. Rain or Shine - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 26 | Mall of Asia Arena (If necessary)
Rain or Shine vs. San Miguel - 3 p.m.
Meralco vs. Ginebra - 6:15 p.m.