Breaking the standoff

Even after a much-needed breather, emotions are still running high and things are not about to cool down as defending champion San Miguel Beer and Magnolia break their standoff on Sunday night in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Coaches Leo Austria of San Miguel and Chito Victolero of Magnolia are hoping the six-day Lenten break has rejuvenated their players as they attempt to grab the edge in Game 3 of the best-of-seven series, which has seen the Beermen and Hotshots not only trade big shots, but called for flagrant and technical fouls in a not-so-friendly duel between the sister teams.

“You can see the determination of both teams,” said Austria, who is looking to steer the Beermen to an unprecedented fourth straight All-Filipino crown. “Magnolia is a strong contender and they are really hungry to win a championship.”

Beyond the physical play, Victolero, who is coaching in his first championship series, wants his players to stay focused when they take the Big Dome floor at 6:30 p.m.

He said the break couldn’t have come at a better time for his players, who survived NLEX in a grueling six-game quarterfinals.

“The break is huge for us,” said Victolero, whose team practiced from Wednesday to Saturday.
“The team is tired from our almost daily grind starting in the quarterfinals. It’s a good thing we got one win [over San Miguel] before the break.”

The Hotshots battled back from 20 points down in Game 1 to prevail, 105-103, but the Beermen restored parity with an emphatic 92-77 triumph last Sunday.

“They remain the heavy favorites, and what’s required of us is consistency throughout the game on what we need to do,” said Victolero after the Game 2 defeat. “I hope we learned from these last two games.”

Paul Lee, Magnolia’s franchise player, needs to rediscover his lethal touch after averaging just 8.5 points in the first two games of the series.

But Victolero is more concerned with the way his team needs to defend reigning four-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo.

“We’ll continue to put different defensive looks on June Mar,” said Victolero. “And we’ll do the same on their shooters.”

For the Beermen, it will be about imposing their firepower on the Hotshots the way they did in Game 2 when the likes of Brian Heruela and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser sparkled off the bench.

“That (Magnolia) team is trying to take away our crown,” said San Miguel forward Arwind Santos in Filipino. “We can’t just give it to them.”