SMB levels up

PBA IMAGES

San Miguel Beer showed the other facet of its game and knotted its best-of-five Final Four series in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup against Star on Monday night, and coach Leo Austria has just one wish for the coming games.

“I hope we can unveil our (offensive) arsenal,” Austria said after his Beermen escaped with a 77-76 decision of the Hotshots at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay in a highly defensive Game 2. “This is not yet our game.”

Austria admitted to being lucky in a way for coming up with the win after Paul Lee missed a running jumper in the waning seconds which could have turned the game around and buried the Beermen in a 0-2 hole.

“I hope that we have momentum going into the next game,” he said. “We have to work really hard because Starknows our weaknesses.”

Game 3 is set this Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

San Miguel survived a mammoth 25-point, 35-rebound night by Star import Ricardo Ratliffe, but insists that it is offense that will take them to yet another title series appearance and that shot to keep their Grand Slam dream alive.

“We are the No. 1 offensive team in the league,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s their (Hotshots’) defense or our offense just didn’t get going.”

To their credit, the Beermen didn’t yield much, either.

After scoring 109 points in winning Game 1, Star was starved to 33 points less as the San Miguel defense held Allein Maliksi, who shot 26 points in the series opener, to just five.

Ratliffe’s 35 rebounds now stand as the second most all-time in a playoff series, next only to the 45 Michael Hackett had for Ginebra San Miguel in the 1985 battle for third place in the Reinforced Conference.

Meanwhile, TNT KaTropa coach Nash Racela expects Barangay Ginebra counterpart Tim Cone to stage a comeback in Game 2 of their series Tuesday.

“He’s a master tactician,” Racela said as he braces for Cone in their 7 p.m. duel, also at MoA Arena.

Racela said the two-time Grand Slam coach would surely make the necessary adjustments.