Beermen’s dismal return; Miguel’s masterful rise

IT WAS just its opening game but San Miguel Beer’s awful start against lowly Mahindra stirred memories of the Beermen’s disappearing act in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after ruling the season-opening Philippine Cup last year.

Barely a month after retaining the all-Filipino title with a historic 4-0 comeback from 0-3 in the championship series, the Beermen played flat in their return and fell, 102-96, to the Enforcers, who leaned on the three-point shooting of Aldrech Ramos and KG Canaleta and the masterful quarterbacking of the tiny LA Revilla.

June Mar Fajardo, the reigning two-time Most Valuable Player, typified the dismal showing of the Beermen, who collapsed in the final five minutes as Canaleta fired three straight triples to spark Mahindra’s explosive finish.

After a dominating performance in Game 7 of the Philippine Cup, Fajardo played only 23 minutes against the Enforcers, shot eight points and had just four rebounds.

While SMB coach Leo Austria had vowed an improved performance this time after the all-Filipino triumph, the Beermen certainly need to do more in their upcoming games to wipe out the stigma of their 0-4 start here and subsequent 1-6 record that eventually doomed them out of the playoffs.

Mahindra, which finished only a win ahead of cellar-dweller Meralco at 2-9 in the Philippine Cup, improved to 2-1 like NLEX, also a big winner last Saturday after inflicting a third straight loss on the Star Hotshots.

Virtually untouchable under coach Tim Cone, the Hotshots just couldn’t get going under new mentor Jason Webb and tumbled down, 106-99, as the prolific Al Thornton, who scattered 35 points, found an unlikely scoring partner in Garvo Lanete, who produced 21.

Also at 2-1 were GlobalPort and lightly regarded Blackwater. The Batang Pier just had too much firepower in a 108-101 win over defending champion Tropang TNT, which played all-Filipino again while searching for a replacement for Ivan Johnson, whose lifetime ban was reduced to a year-long suspension by commissioner Chito Narvasa.

Blackwater exploited the injury to import Rob Dozier in the second quarter to hack out a 107-101 victory.

Meanwhile, Meralco survived a terrific stand by Phoenix Petroleum to extend its surprising run to 4-0 with a 90-87 victory yesterday. A three-pointer by Jared Dillinger with 45 seconds left for 89-86 finally doomed the Fuel Masters, who took over from the Barako Bull and debuted with a 118-106 conquest of NLEX last Wednesday.

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It took Juvic Pagunsan almost the entire Asian Tour season before clinching the Order of Merit title in 2011.

But the way Miguel Tabuena is playing, he’s now an early threat for the OOM plum after he surged from fifth to second overall by tying for second in the Maybank Championship Malaysia.

With his richest paycheck ever of $260,565, he now has total earnings of $310,658. And he was playing only in his third tournament after the Singapore Open, where he placed fourth, late in January and the Myanmar Open early this month.

Tabuena, without a doubt the country’s No. 1, is set to play in the ISPS Handa Perth Open in Australia which has a total purse of AUS$750,000.