The San Miguel Beermen could have walked away from Game One as winners over TNT Katropa at the start of the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup Finals last Wednesday, but unfortunately, the game’s breaks slipped away from them.
“We wanted to win but the breaks did not go on our side,” rued Beermen head coach Leo Austria after their 104-102 loss at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“We fought hard against a team like TNT but we came up short.”
The series is still young, though, and the storied franchise will have a chance to redeem themselves in Game Two, Friday night. But for them to do so, Austria iterated that lots of adjustments will take place.
And one of their main points is containing the six-foot-nine, 330-pound import Joshua Smith, who finished with 21 points, including the game-winning lay-up, and nine rebounds in the title bout’s opening salvo.
“We have to contain Smith,” said Austria. “It seems like he is the problem in our defense eh. Napapaligiran [din] siya ng perimeter shooters — napakarami ng perimeter shooters. I hope next game, ma-contain namin yung ginagawa nila.
“We have to devise some kind of defense to limit him.”
But aside from neutralizing the hulking enforcer, the four-time champion coach also addressed the way his wards poorly secured the ball, that they could not do it again in Game Two if they are hard-pressed to even the series.
“Imagine, we out-rebounded them by six rebounds (58-52), but the problem is we committed 23 turnovers against [TNT’s] 17. In the first half, makikita mo yung turnover points nila, 19 out of 13. That’s something we have to limit.
“That’s one thing na we want to solve,” said Austria.
Katropa head coach Nash Racela, on the other hand, lauded the collective effort his team gave that sent them to a confidence-boosting 1-0 lead in the race-to-four clash for the mid-season conference crown.
“Of course it’s always crucial to get the first win,” said the first-year pro coach. “That’s something that is, to us, very important because it just means that a lot of the other guys delivered today.
“Today was really a collective thing,” Racela furthered as skipper Jayson Castro, rookie Roger Pogoy, and reinforcement Joshua Smith all linked up for the win.
“We’re looking forward to Game Two adjustments,” added Racela, as TNT now aims to own a commanding 2-0 lead.
Game Two is set for Friday, June 23, 7:00 PM, still at the Big Dome.
