San Miguel head coach Leo Austria would rather remain grounded about his team’s chances of going deeper in the 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup playoffs.
The Beermen will enter the quarterfinals as the fourth-seeded team after beating Alaska behind the late-game heroics of resident sniper Marcio Lassiter. They also earn the chance to atone for last year’s heartbreaker in the Clark bubble.
Last time, SMB also finished the eliminations at no. 4 sans reigning six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo. But it failed to maximize its win-once edge, bowing to Meralco twice as they kissed their five-year reign goodbye.
“With this win, and in winning a lot against those big teams, the confidence is there. But we don’t know yet what will happen,” said the decorated mentor moments after the match at the DHVSU Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Among the uncertainties dampening the team’s confidence, according to Austria, is that they do not yet know their quarterfinals opponent.
While the top four teams have been determined, the lower half of the eight-team cast has yet to be completed. San Miguel (7-4) is waiting for who between NorthPort and Rain or Shine will end up as the fifth seed.
The Elasto Painters have ended the eliminations at 6-5, while the 5-5 Batang Pier will still face the Aces on Thursday.
Photo by PBA Images
“Against Rain or Shine or NorthPort, these teams are contenders.
“It needs a lot of focus and preparation against these teams. But the problem is we don’t know yet who our opponents are,” said the four-time Coach of the Year.
The amount of preparation needed could also play a factor even for a veteran-laden team like the Beermen, Austria stressed.
“I don’t know kung kailan, and there’s no time to prepare because one or two days are not enough going to the playoffs,” the 63-year-old bench tactician said, as the quarterfinals could commence this weekend.
The good thing, though, is that the eight-time champion coach has a solid and intact crew at his disposal. So it’s all up to him now to keep his players as focused as possible for the next stage of the cage wars.
“I’m relying on the system we’re running since we got to this place. I hope na yung inspirasyon ng team ay lumabas ulit,” said Austria, who’s been calling the shots for San Miguel since 2014.
“All we have to do is to be focused on our game plan both on offense and defense, because a lot of teams are improving a lot.”
