San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent sees a different Terrafirma team now as the two crossed paths in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup on Wednesday.
The veteran mentor was left in awe of how the Dyip have been progressing thus far in the conference as the Beermen had to go through the eye of a needle before going away with the 113-110 victory to stay unbeaten in the tilt.
“They’re not a pushover team anymore,” he offered moments after the match at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“It’s a team that can fight, fight, and fight.”
Terrafirma actually went off to a fiery start, 19-7, which left Gallent worried about their opponents given how they’ve been playing especially as of late.
The champion bench tactician has every reason to dread the Dyip. The latter was coming off a stunning upset of Barangay Ginebra just last Sunday in the same venue and wanted to follow it up by catching another big fish in SMB.
A quick look at history, too, shows that the team of Coach Johnedel Cardel could get it done, having beaten the perennial contenders in the 2021 Philippine Cup in Bacolor during their franchise-record three-game winning streak.
“At the start of the game, we were just relaxed. And I was really scared of that,” said Gallent, whose wards fell by a point, 103-102, with 3:37 left.
San Miguel, though, was able to avoid the upset big thanks to the heroics of Mo Tautua’a, who fired 17 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. They’re now 5-0 in the tourney while also extending their winning streak over Terrafirma to six.
That, though, doesn’t diminish one bit the respect Gallent has toward the Dyip, who remain on track for a quarterfinal seat at 4-4 — the Dyip, with three more wins left in the eliminations, need just two more wins to secure a ticket.
“It’s a team that knows how to win already,” he said. “They’re 4-3 before our game. They’re not scared of winning anymore. It’s a team that’s hungry.
“It’s a team that wants to enter the quarters because I think they have a great chance now. That’s why they’re playing like that,” continued the former cager turned coach
“They’re not a scared team anymore.”
