Petron guns for huge 3-1 lead

Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee (dark) blocks Elijah Millsap of Petron (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

There was just one explanation from coach Tim Cone why his San Mig Coffee team lost horribly to Petron Blaze Wednesday night.

“I’m not sure if there’s something to talk about; they were great, and we were not,” a dejected Cone told reporters minutes after the 90-68 loss that dumped the Mixers in a 1-2 hole in their PLDT Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup championship series against the mighty Boosters.

Petron tries to more or less wrap it all up today with another win at 8 p.m. at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay where the  Boosters hope to play with the same level of intensity and hunger as they did in Game 3.

“We still have a job to do,” rookie Petron coach Gee Abanilla said. “We made some good adjustments the last time, but we know that they (Mixers) are capable of coming back.”

Petron was able to dominate despite going to the free throw line just eight times and barely winning the battle off the boards, 45-44.

The difference was the defense of the Boosters, who allowed just two San Mig players to score in twin digits—Marqus Blakely with 17 and James Yap with 10.

The 68 points by San Mig matched the team’s lowest output for the tournament. The Mixers also scored just that many in a Final Four loss to Meralco weeks ago.

“I’ve said this before: We have to be firing on all cylinders for us to beat this team,” Cone emphasized. “If we play less than that, this is what will happen. If we come in with 50-percent concentration and intensity, this is the result.

“If a team plays this badly, it isn’t about the players,” Cone said in taking the blame. “We coaches didn’t prepare them well enough.”

June Mar Fajardo has proven to be the biggest—both literally and figuratively—headache for Cone and Mixers in the series.

The hulking 6-foot-9 rookie from Cebu has been a dominant force. On Wednesday, Fajardo scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds in just 29 minutes.

The Boosters’ lopsided victory in Game 3 definitely gives Abanilla’s men the momentum to make it 3-1, a mountain of a lead, tonight.

Abanilla played import Elijah Millsap just 34 minutes—the most among his starters— on the way to 28 points and eight rebounds.

Meanwhile, the season Most Valuable Player and other individual awards will be handed out starting at 7 p.m. today with Arwind Santos of Petron Blaze and LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra contesting the season’s highest honor.