It’s tough to beat the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Cup
For two straight years, the San Miguel Beermen have been the kings of the All-Filipino conference and are a championship away from keeping the Jun Bernardino trophy locked in the office of the San Miguel Corporation. Six games into the conference, the crown jewel of the San Miguel Corporation are “finally” starting to click.
And that reality is quite terrifying.
With a 5-1 slate, the Beermen are winning by an average margin of 8.2 points per game — second best in the league, something they have achieved behind the team’s MVP duo of June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos. Wednesday evening, however, it was their guard play that did the trick against the Meralco Bolts.
Meralco’s defense locked in on Fajardo and Santos in the opening half, limiting the two to a combined four points. Seeing this, the troika of Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabgnot, and Chris Ross lambasted the Bolts’ defense, displaying unselfish basketball. Cabagnot did his damage in the first quarter, while Lassiter did his share in the second frame, helping erect a huge 31-point lead by halftime.
“We’re playing as a team. We know June Mar and Arwind can get their points, it’s just bringing in the defense. Other guys have to step up,” Lassiter shared.
The three combined to score 39 of San Miguel’s 58 first half points. And for the Filipino-American deadeye shooter, it’s all coming together for the defending champions.
“We are just trying to be versatile not be one dimensional, just always in the post, we want to be in the post, or kicking it out so they know they can’t always give us the same look,” the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft shared.
“We’re starting to realize that and it’s coming together.”
San Miguel eventually took 101-86 win, their fourth straight victory. Surprisingly, the 21 points Lassiter scored in the game were his season-high. For Lassiter, he was able to pick them up because he believes that they are now starting to click as a team.
“It’s starting to click but I don’t want to be too complacent. I just need to keep working harder and making sure more shots go in — the more the better,” he said.
“But [still] I know I need to help in other area because I know I can defend and make plays.”
Now locked-in and with both the front and backcourt on the same page, it will be a tough task to topple the San Miguel Beermen in the conference they have ruled for the past two years.
