ANTIPOLO – San Miguel finds itself in an eerily familiar situation after dropping its PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup debut on Saturday evening.
The Beermen bowed to Titan Ultra after its comeback from 21 down fell short, alarming head coach Leo Austria. It brought flashbacks of their poor start into the last Philippine Cup, in which they bowed in their first two assignments.
“It’s really a tough one for us, ano,” he said moments after their 119-112 defeat at the Ynares Center, which gave the Giant Risers their first for the conference.
“I keep on telling them, we don’t want the last conference to happen to us again.”
SMB did turn things around from that tepid start by finishing as the No. 1 team by elimination’s end with a 9-2 record. The team eventually concluded its run by reclaiming the coveted Jun Bernardino Trophy at the expense of TNT.
That campaign even saw the traditional powerhouse win 10 consecutive games in a streak that lasted until the quarterfinals, in yet another example of how the league’s most successful franchise can turn it up when needed.
As confident as he is in his charges’ abilities, Austria refuses to be complacent. Instead, he warned that it will be far more challenging in the midseason joust given the amount of towering — and talented — imports of the other teams.
On Saturday alone, San Miguel struggled to contain Titan Ultra reinforcement Michael Gilmore, who finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds, and also collected an assist, three steals, and a block to submit a full line.
“This time, a lot of teams are really improving really well because of the inclusion of the imports,” he said.
“It’s very obvious that every team is trying to get a big import so that they can match up with our bigs, especially June Mar.”
(C) PBA Images
The Beermen’s import in Marcus Lee, on the other hand, was underwhelming. He finished with just four points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals in the 24 minutes and 46 seconds he played.
In fact, he was no longer utilized in the entirety of the fourth quarter. Austria and the brain trust opted for an all-Filipino lineup. It did work, as Mo Tautua’a, CJ Perez, and June Mar Fajardo spearheaded the rally.
“I thought because we’re down by 21 points, I have to give some chance to the local players. We’re able to catch up by four points in the last four to five minutes. But we committed a lot of turnovers,” said Austria as his wards had 21 TOs.
“And it resulted in easy points for them eh. And that really hurt us,” he added, as Joshua Munzon led the opposition’s windup to seal the W.
Austria, however, isn’t pinning the blame on Lee, although he did lament how missing stars Chris Ross and Jericho Cruz hurt their chances.
Ross is still being hounded by Achilles tightness, while Cruz is still recovering from back spasms that sprang up during his stint with Guam in the most recent FIBA Basketball World 2027 Cup Asian Qualifiers window.
Cruz, together with the Gilas Pilipinas tandem of Perez and Fajardo, came back just two weeks before the tournament due to their national team duties.
“After the championship, there are two players na naglalaro sa Gilas, they joined the team two weeks before, and that’s not enough,” he said.
“And the two key players, Chris Ross and Jericho Cruz, they’re really important parts of the team, and it’s very obvious in our game na outran kami.”
Now, the rest of San Miguel will enter crucial practices ahead with the goal to adjust, in preparation for a tough stretch ahead against contender teams, beginning with Converge on Wednesday.
“I told the team that failure is always included in the success. Then nabanggit ko sa kanila what happened to us in the last conference. But it’s really dangerous, sabi ko sa kanila,” said the four-time PBA Press Corps Coach of the Year.
“Because in the next few games, it’s really the top teams na makakalaban namin — Converge, Talk N Text, and then nandoon ‘yung Macau, Ginebra … It’s really tough for us,” Austria added.
“But let’s see how we can adjust.”
#WATCH: IT’S A TOUGH ONE FOR US 🏀
Leo Austria says that San Miguel’s buildup for the #PBA50 Comm’s Cup has been tough because of Gilas callups#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/1NQagcHQmj
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/mfQqSlhiYU
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) March 21, 2026
