ANTIPOLO – Marcio Lassiter is hoping that San Miguel’s vast experience would come in handy in their bid to stay in the running — or better yet overtake others — as the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal race heats up.
The veteran marksman acknowledges that it’s been one challenging conference for the defending champions mainly in juggling a busy schedule, but at the same time remains positive that it would be worth it when all is said and done.
“I hope so. We know we can bank on that,” he told reporters moments after their 85-78 escape of Magnolia on Sunday night at the Ynares Center here.
#WATCH: Marcio Lassiter sinks back-to-back clutch triples to power San Miguel past Magnolia 🔥🔥
📹 @justinebacnis/ Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/ehTqmIME5w
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) January 12, 2025
That thriller of a win against the Hotshots in a clash of struggling powerhouses not only got them back on track in the mid-season tournament, but laid to rest as well what was a harrowing skid for the traditional contenders.
SMB came into Sunday’s affair — a rematch of the previous Commissioner’s Cup Finals, yes — in the midst of a four-game losing skid.
It started with back-to-back losses to Hong Kong Eastern, first in the East Asia Super League (EASL) arena and then in a PBA duel four days later.
They lost to Barangay Ginebra afterward, and then absorbed a harsh 31-point beatdown at the hands of Hiroshima in another EASL affair.
Lassiter admits that it’s not easy doing double duties but knows, too, that fighting through as much is part of the job as professional athletes.
“It’s tough, but we’re all professionals at the end of the day,” he said. “We try our best to get as much recovery. It would be great if we had another extra day, but it is what it is. Every night we wanna compete and give out our best effort.
“We know that it’s just gonna make us stronger or better and just learn through all these experiences,” the 37-year-old swingman furthered.
Lassiter himself personified that fight when he starred in the endgame for San Miguel, nailing back-to-back treys for the 80-76 lead with 51.9 seconds left to play — shots that shifted the momentum in their favor for good.
He finished with eight points, overcoming a cold start offensively in which he didn’t score his first points of the fixture until the third quarter.
“This one was quite interesting just because I started off pretty cold,” said Lassiter, who shot 3-of-10 from the floor. “I think my first shot was not till the third quarter. And it takes a lot of confidence to keep saying, ‘Keep shooting it.'”
The result, more importantly, improved the Beermen’s record to 4-4 and a win like that against the Hotshots should make the crew become optimistic entering what should be a crucial home stretch of the elimination round.
But Lassiter just wants his crew to stay locked in on the grind, particularly in getting everybody to work as one since they’re practically rebuilding.
“It’s just a new group. We’re trying to get everyone on the same page. The results, the standings don’t show what we’re capable of,” he said. “This conference has been a lot for us. And we just gotta keep grinding.
“We got a lot of tough teams coming up–I think it’s just all the upper half right now,” he added as they’re set to face Meralco, NorthPort, Converge, and TNT.
“It’s gonna be tough. It’s not easy. It will really test our capabilities.”
