Beermen shoot for 2-0 cushion vs reeling Aces

JUNE Mar Fajardo hopes to dominate the post anew in Game 2. INQUIRER.net PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO

SAN MIGUEL Beer coach Leo Austria’s fear of his players not having the energy to play in Game 1 of this best-of-seven series for the PBA Governors’ Cup title was baseless after all.

He found that out in a surprisingly great way on Friday night.

And after a 30-point win, complacency is what worries Austria going into today’s Game 2 with the Aces, who got beat so bad that they were just a shade of the team that topped the elimination round and went unbeaten in the playoffs until two nights ago.

“I’m sure that they (Aces) will bounce back,” Austria said as he readied his Beermen for a tougher Alaska stand at 5 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Not only did the Aces put up bricks practically the entire night, but the fire and determination were simply not there in the series-opener, prompting coach Alex Compton to own up to everything that led to the debacle.

“I don’t think that there’s a stat for being outcoached,” Compton, his head bowed, told reporters shortly after Austria spoke. “There’s not much of a story here [in Game 1], I got outcoached and we got beat from start to finish.”

“What we did tonight obviously didn’t work,” Compton said. “We have to do something different [for Game 2].”

It should  be a different approach against the very same people as Alaska tries to shut down import Arizona Reid and hands-down MVP choice June Mar Fajardo, who did the most damage on the Aces on Wednesday.

The Aces also need to find a way to shoot better if they hope to even make this one close.

In Game 1, the Aces finished with a 35-percent clip from the field, certainly a far cry for the team that was very fluid the entire tournament until last Friday.

Romeo Travis, the leading contender for the Best Import award together with Reid, scored just 14 points. That was 10 points shy of his conference average.

San Miguel, meanwhile, got five players shooting in twin digits with Reid and Fajardo leading the way with a combined 50. The duo also pulled down a total of 23 rebounds.

Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos have also been steady for the Beermen.