Coming off a five-day break before the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, many thought the San Miguel Beermen would come out swinging in Game One against the Magnolia Hotshots.
The exact opposite happened, though.
“Maybe we thought that it was easy to beat them because of their series that extended to seven games against Rain or Shine,” lamented six-time champion coach Leo Austria.
“As I said, we could have an advantage or a disadvantage because our team is really comfortable if the games are every other day.”
The Beermen played catch-up basketball against the Hotshots for almost all of Game One – 33 minutes and 16 seconds to be exact.
Their shooting was way off as San Miguel, who usually shoot at a 40-percent clip, shot just 37.6-percent from the field – 25-percent from distance.
Moreover, San Miguel overly relied on June Mar Fajardo in the endgame. The big man scored 15 of the 21 fourth-quarter points of the Beermen.
Austria shared that it was not Magnolia’s defense that suffocated them throughout the contest. Instead, he rued the overconfidence of his squad entering the game.
“We know that kind of defense. There’s nothing different with their defense,” opined Austria.
“The problem is in our shot selection, because they came in a series that they won 4-1. They thought na it was easy to beat Magnolia.
“As you can see that their series with Rain or Shine was low-scoring. They thought na kayang kaya. Hindi nangyari,” he continued.
Austria and the Beermen have a history of losing the first game in the championship round – three straight times to be exact.
But just like last year’s Philippine Cup, he is confident that they will bounce back.
“This is only the first game, and we are lucky that this is not a knockout game. We still have a lot of time to regroup and know what to do next game,” he said.
“I think next game, it will be a different ball game.”
