San Miguel head coach Leo Austria admitted that the absence of Marcio Lassiter in Game Three of their 2019 PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series against the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters on Sunday night was a big blow for the Beermen.
Lassiter was with San Miguel in Game Three, and was even in uniform. Unfortunately, he did not see a second of action because of back spasms, which, according to Austria, the 6-foot-3 wingman felt prior to the match.
“We had a good practice yesterday. We know that we’re in shape. But pagdating niya dito kanina, something’s wrong with his back, and we don’t want to aggravate the situation,” said Austria.
“Hindi playable, talagang back spasms.”
Without Lassiter – who is averaging 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in the series – the Beermen failed to stretch their series lead to 3-0 as they lost, 90-92.
“Marcio is a big factor in our offense and defense, because if we have Marcio, he could play defense and he could knock those shots,” said Austria moments after the loss. “He will be a big factor for us both on offense and defense.”
“Okay lang yan. Makakalaro siya next game, may sakit ngayon eh,” added June Mar Fajardo, who tallied 22 points and 19 rebounds.
“Obviously, Marcio’s a big part of our team,” said Christian Standhardinger, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, along with an assist and a steal in the loss.
“I hope he figures out his back.”
Press sought Lassiter for comments regarding his status, but he politely declined.
Beyond missing Lassiter, though, Austria lamented the way his wards shot the ball, particularly from the free-throw line and from the three-point area. SMB only converted 22 of their 39 foul shots, and only made 10 of 47 three-point attempts.
“We missed a lot of free throws, which is seventeen, and we missed a lot of shots sa three-points,” he said.
However, Austria is looking at the positives of the loss, including how the Beermen kept it a close affair down the stretch despite bowing in the end. San Miguel even rallied from an early 11-point deficit and tied the game late.
“Even though we have a bad execution, still close eh. I think idu-dwell namin sa area na ‘yun. [Pero] Kahit masama ‘yung nilaro namin, we still have a chance to win,” he said.
“I know everybody wants to win, but we came up short.”
And, of course, he was thankful for no injuries even if highly-physical encounters continued on Sunday.
“I’m so thankful tonight, walang mga major injuries dahil nagkakatamaan, nagkaka-sikuhan ng kaunti,” he expressed.
“Pero that’s fine and that’s part of the game. But no untoward incidents that could affect both teams.”
