Decorated head coach Leo Austria admitted that he and the San Miguel Beermen had been totally outplayed by the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, following the 99-127 beating they suffered in Game One of the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup Finals, Friday night.
It was a one-sided show in favor of the Gin Kings right from the start, as import Justin Brownlee led the attack. The Best Import candidate was an absolute headache for the defending champions, as he dropped 42 points.
As a whole, the Barangay shot 61.4 percent from the field, going 13-of-25 of downtown. Their blistering shooting performance, moreover, enabled them to hike their lead to as high as 39 points, 119-80, late in the game.
“I think this is the game I don’t want to experience, ano, especially in the championship series,” lamented the reigning Coach of the Year. “We’ve been humiliated by the Ginebra, ano.
“We were out-coached.
Austria also admitted that there had been a sense of complacency in the Beermen’s camp.
“We’re not able to execute our game plan, ano, because we thought our talent that we used during the playoffs, from quarterfinals to the semifinals, will be overwhelming,” said the six-time PBA champion coach.
“But against Ginebra, which is equally talented, and sinasabi nating superpower, they also have a lot of focus and experience dito sa playoffs. Talagang mahirap. They came out really on fire,” Austria conceded.
“We’re surprised because of the complacency.”
But even if Friday night was a sour one for them, there was still a silver lining in Christian Standhardinger. The Fil-German forward provided 26 points on a commendable 11-of-18 shooting, along with eight rebounds.
“I’m happy to see his game tonight in spite of limited minutes in the first quarter. He’s already included in the rotation eh. I hope ma-sustain ito,” he disclosed.
“With his showing tonight ano, kailangan gamitin ko siya ng mas mahaba.
“I think he’s ready. The way he played tonight, he’s really a winner eh. Even though nung bandang huli, it was a matter to finalize the score, he keeps on fighting back. That’s one thing na positive na nakita ko tonight,” he said.
Now, Austria and San Miguel are ready to move on from the loss, and will set their sights in Game Two on Sunday.
“The good thing is this is a best-of-seven. Matalo kami ng 40 o 50, this is just one game. We have to move forward and we have to adjust next game dahil all the players of Ginebra is really focused eh, kahit sino ipasok mo alam nila,” Austria pointed out.
“Talagang the grandmaster really moves well, si coach Tim [Cone] alam niya kung paano.”
