Don Trollano and San Miguel changed their approach after an uncharacteristic start to PBA Season 50, and that has surely done wonders for the powerhouse.
The Beermen on Thursday evening became the very first to reach the Philippine Cup semifinals by ousting NLEX, taking a major step in their bid to defend the coveted Perpetual trophy they regained by beating TNT last season.
“For us, iniisip lang namin is one game at a time, kailangan lang ipanalo,” he said moments after their 101-94 victory at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
It could be recalled that the traditional contenders began their campaign with back-to-back losses, the first of which was, coincidentally, against the Road Warriors–an 85-84 decision at the Ynares Center in Antipolo last October 8.
They then bowed to Phoenix narrowly afterward, but since then, Coach Leo Austria’s wards would go on to sweep their next outings and finish as the no. 1 team of the elimination round with an impressive 9-2 win-loss record,
Fast forward to Christmas Day, and SMB would extend that fiery winning streak to 10 games at, quite ironically, the expense of the eight-seed NLEX.
And Trollano himself was instrumental in the triumph–just like how it’s been in this string of victories of theirs. The seasoned wing went 3-of-4 from three and would finish with 17 points alongside seven rebounds off the bench.
He starred most especially in their third-quarter reversal, scoring 15 of his output in the said period as he powered a crucial 21-2 rally that turned a six-point halftime deficit into a 68-55 advantage entering the six-minute mark.
San Miguel would stay ahead the rest of the way, and Trollano would also help in closing the game out to formalize their entry to the final four, where they will be squaring off against either Ginebra or Converge in a best-of-7 affair.
The 33-year-old simply wanted to make up for a subpar first-half showing in which he laid an egg, thus the solid performance he came up with.
“Well ah, iniisip ko na lang, kailangan ko bumawi,” offerd Trollano, “kasi ‘yung first half, medyo off-rhythm ako and pangit ‘yung start ko.
“So noong halftime kinausap ako nina Chris Ross, mga teammate ko, coaches, to stay aggressive. Kaya ayun. Ini-start nila ko ng third quarter. Maganda naman,” added the three-time champion, who shot 40-percent from the floor.
Austria, for his part, couldn’t be any more satisfied to see his long-time player deliver yet again–and show that the brain trust made the right adjustment.
“In the first half, talagang they messed up our rotation, but come the second half, I changed a lot. I started Trollano,” the champion bench tactician said.
“And I’m so happy he performed right away because we know that Don is really reliable, especially off the bench.”
#WATCH: INSTANT OFFENSE
Don Trollano was the spark of San Miguel in their #PBA50 quarterfinals win over NLEX 🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/zB5dSIF7EQ
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/drJQ8Y4nGH
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) December 25, 2025
