Unrelenting effort key in rubber match

Coach Leo Austria. NUKI SABIO/PBA

San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria is harping a different tune this time to get his Beermen going, perhaps after seeing how underdogs fight.

With a game left in a PBA Philippine Cup tournament his Beermen have been expected to dominate, Austria has started calling his squad the “underdogs” after Alaska took them to the rubber match of their best-of-seven championship series on Sunday night.

His Alaska counterpart, Alex Compton, has always labeled his Aces as the ones “trying to be Goliath” against David, and his crew has fought the much bigger, more talented San Miguel side hard each time to come within another win of slaying the giant.

It could be the sustained effort like that which Austria is looking for, although it would be very hard to believe him say that they are the underdogs. Two former MVPs lead a roster that could have two formidable starting fives for San Miguel.

“The bottom line here is that we were outhustled,” Austria said after the Aces took command of Game 6 from the second quarter on to post an 87-76 victory, paving the way for the you-or-me game tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Alaska clearly has the momentum going into that match, although the Aces have yet to beat the Beermen two successive times in this series.

“I wish I can say that we have the master game plan here, the rope-a-dope of Muhammad Ali (against George Foreman),” Compton said.

Alaska has gone this far by playing defense harder than anyone has done here. The Aces are now 12-0 in matches where they held the enemy below 80 points.

One thing going for Alaska in Game 7 is the fact that it was able to rest Calvin Abueva and win Game 6. On Sunday, the former Rookie of the Year got saddled with early fouls and played in just under 16 minutes.

Compton believes that the hard-nosed, run-and-gun way that his Aces play on both ends took its toll on the Beermen on Sunday.

“I don’t think my players are tired,” Austria said. “I think it’s a matter of (the right) mental approach. Maybe we were a little complacent.”

Alaska held reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo to his fewest attempts in the series—seven— for a total of just nine points. Its defense has concentrated on shutting down the 6-foot-10 San Miguel Beer cornerstone all series long.