San Miguel has had its fair share of defeats, but the loss from TNT Tropang Giga in Game Three of their 2021 PBA Philippine Cup semifinal duel last Friday stung so bad that it caused sleepless nights for the entire crew.
Head coach Leo Austria admitted to such a struggle that he and the Beermen had to put up with. And nobody can blame them for that, as the 98-115 shellacking they received was their worst loss of the conference thus far.
“Our loss in the third game was really an embarrassing one for us. And we weren’t able to sleep because of the loss,” said the champion mentor.
Thus, the satisfaction felt by Austria as he witnessed his charges redeem themselves in the best of ways in Game Four, Sunday.
This time around, it was SMB who dominated and bagged home the 116-90 victory to even their best-of-seven duel at two games apiece. Moreover, it was the most lopsided result of the entire semis so far.
“We realized na there’s no tomorrow, if we lose, 3-1, it’s very hard to recover, especially if you’re up against a very organized and very disciplined team like Talk N Text — well-coached team,” he said.
San Miguel went off to a good start and never looked back, indeed a marked improvement after playing catch-up in the previous games.
“If you noticed, in the past few games namin against Talk ‘N Text, it was always in a catch-up situation. But we want to have this good start, which happened today,” said the four-time Coach of the Year.
That happened as the Beermen attacked the defense of Tropang Giga bigs Poy Erram and Troy Rosario, sending the two to foul trouble as they already had a combined five fouls in the opening quarter alone.
“The players were the ones who realized it, na talagang we need to attack the post,” said Austria when asked if attacking the opposing frontcourt was part of their game plan. “Every game ginagawa naman namin e.”
But what really was the key in the victory, according to Austria, was their conscious effort to take care of the ball more. They only committed 15 turnovers after averaging 18.6 in the series’ first three games.
“The key for them in our two losses were our turnovers. Imagine if you lose twenty-nine points off turnovers, and twenty-seven points on second-chance points, you have no chance to win,” said the 63-year-old.
Then, of course, there’s their effort on defense that stifled the Tropa’s main weapons like Roger Pogoy, who was held to just two points.
“We were so focused on our defense,” said Austria as his team also forced TNT to commit 18 turnovers, which they turned to 22 points.
With a near-perfect outing from his crew that saw a total of seven players finish in double figures, Austria couldn’t feel any happier.
“Everybody, talagang step up,” he lauded.
“I’m so happy with the players because everybody stepped up.”
As impressive as the victory was, however, Austria insisted that there’s no room for complacency for San Miguel heading into the pivotal Game Five.
“Like what happened noong second game, we won and tied the series. They came out really big. The momentum is not noticeable in this game. They won the other night, but we won the next game. So it’s a matter of how we adjust.
“There’s a lot of adjustment. Let’s see what we can do. They have to keep grounded and not celebrate this big win for us. Instead, think of something that could help us again in our next game,” said Austria.
