Shabazz Muhammad believes that it would’ve been a different story had he joined San Miguel right at the beginning of the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup.
The NBA vet was the Beermen’s third import in the season-ending conference and quickly proved to be the best fit, but his stint didn’t last long as they bowed out against the very same team he was supposed to play for.
SMB lost to Tony Bishop and Meralco in the quarterfinals, 85-100, marking the third time in the last three seasons that it failed to reach the semis.
“I told Coach, I think if I was here at the beginning of the season, we wouldn’t even be in this position,” said Muhammad moments after the match. “I’m playing the 3, the 4 so we’re still trying to get me in the swing of things.”
Muhammad was quite upbeat with the way he spoke to reporters but didn’t hide that the defeat — which saw them trail by 21 at one point — hurt him.
Well, one couldn’t blame him. After all, they got beaten by the very same team that he torched with 57 points last March 5, as he towed the Beermen to a 115-110 victory after falling to a hole as deep as 26 points.
On Friday night, he was only limited to 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field. It was the lowest scoring output in his PBA stint.
“I think they definitely did a great job of strategizing a defense on me,” he said. “I think they were like in a box-and-one. It kind of frustrated us. One thing I’ll give them kudos for, they played well, they played good basketball tonight.
“It was really hard to score, stuff like that, so they did a really good job with that box-and-one and their coach is really good,” he added.
As his first foray in the league comes to a close, Muhammad has yet to figure out where he heads next. But he isn’t closing his doors for a potential return sometime in the future in pursuit of a PBA championship.
“Everything’s been great here. The people here are great, the fans here are great. I’m sorry we couldn’t win the championship but it really hurt me that we lost that game,” said the 29-year-old, who averaged 35.3 points and 18.0 rebounds in four games.
“It’s definitely something that I’ll look into the future of coming back here and trying to win a championship. That’s something that’s going to be on my mind now,” Muhammad furthered.
For now, he may make the most out of his time here in the country.
“They were telling me Boracay or something so I might go check it out and you know I’m already over here so definitely soak that in.”
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