It had been a double whammy for the San Miguel Beermen.
Wednesday night’s crushing 77-93 loss to Justin Brownlee and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Finals’ Game Six at the SM Mall of Asia Arena had spelled the end of their reign as the rulers of the Commissioner’s Cup.
But not only that.
The loss was the first-ever Finals defeat that the Beermen have absorbed under head coach Leo Austria. After Wednesday, San Miguel’s championship record with the reigning, three-time Coach of the Year is now 6-1.
Of course, everybody from the Beermen’s camp is heartbroken over the setback, especially June Mar Fajardo, who tried his best to lead the Beermen by producing 29 points and 15 rebounds.
But he could only do so much.
“Siyempre nakakalungkot kasi talo kami sa championship eh, talo kami sa Finals.
“‘Di mo naman maipapanalo ang lahat pero andun yung chances eh. Sayang,” said the reigning, four-time Most Valuable Player after the match.
But if there’s any takeaway from this loss, it’s that this will only serve as further motivation for them to level up their game.
“‘Yung ibang teams kasi, nagpapalakas na ng husto. Kami, ‘di kami pwede maging stagnant. Gusto namin, kailangan every conference, itaas din namin ang game namin. Siguro wake up call para sa amin ito,” said the 28-year-old.
“‘Di kami puwede maging kampante,” added the six-time champion. “Hindi porke’t San Miguel ang kalaban ng ibang team, magro-roll over sila eh. Mas gaganahan sila maglaro ‘pag kalaban kami.
“So kami, itataas din namin laro namin.”
