ALREADY pushed to the limit its last time out, San Miguel Beer expects another arduous task when it collides with Barangay Ginebra Wednesday at the start of their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals duel at the PhilSports Arena.
The Beermen have had little time to rest and recover following a grueling matchup against the tenacious Converge FiberXers in a gripping quarterfinals series that went the full five-game route and ended only last Sunday.
In contrast, the Gin Kings are well-rested and are relatively amply prepared for the best-of-seven duel after completing a clean three-game sweep of the Meralco Bolts in their own last eight series last Sept. 30.Still, SMB coach Jorge Gallent expressed optimism his charges would be up to the task just like what they showed in overcoming Converge’s challenge.”Against Ginebra we just have to play well,” said Gallent following the final game against the FiberXers.
“It’s well-coached, it has great players so, you know, we just have to play well, we have to play our A-game, for us to have a chance to beat them,” added Gallent.
The two teams actually split their two games in the group stage, with Ginebra banking most on Justin Brownlee’s career-high 51 points for a 108-102 decision last Aug. 27 before SMB rebounded with a 131-82 victory last Sept. 15 on the same night Marcio Lassiter ascended to the top of the league’s all-time 3-point list.
Gallent was quick to shrug off those first two meetings, however. “Wala na iyan. This is back to zero,” he maintained.”It’s a series so, you know, it’s (a matter of) adjustments, adjustments,” added Gallent.
“The best thing about now is, it starts 0-0 and we will prepare for Ginebra.”Ginebra actually finished off SMB in their last semis encounter the last time the same tournament was held in 2023, needing just three games to close out their best-of-five series.
Kings coach Tim Cone, however, knows his remaining players will have their hands full against the June Mar Fajardo-led Beermen due to the absence of the injured Jeremiah Gray, Jamie Malonzo and Isaac Go.”We deal with what we have and we figure out a way,” said Cone.”Obviously, having to go with June Mar… in the next series is gonna be a big concern for us as well.”Ginebra guard Stephen Holt couldn’t agree more. “It’s gonna take total team effort in the next series,” he stressed.(NC)
