San Miguel Beermen. PBA IMAGES
On target from beyond the arc, the Beermen thrashed GlobalPort en route to a 120-109 victory at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Yung team namin parang Marvel: maraming hero,” said Arwind Santos. “Mahirap talunin, lalo na yung import namin, nakukuha na niya yung sistema kaya mas napapaganda.”
Despite seeing his streak of 305 straight games played snapped due to hamstring injuries on both legs, Santos could only gush over the potential of his squad even without him, especially with the acquisition of Beermen reinforcement Tyler Wilkerson.
“Hindi na bago sa amin yun na kahit wala ako o si June Mar,” he said. “Yung import namin, may i-improve pa sya kung titingnan mo. Pag nasanay na sya sa calls at gulangan dito, baka mas lalo pa maging problema (sa mga kalaban),” he said.
Impressive
Even San Miguel’s resident gunner Marcio Lassiter was impressed by the import’s stroke as Wilkerson went 7-of-11 from threes.
“Tyler really impressed me tonight. I didn’t really know he could shoot like that,” he said. “I’ve seen him in practice, but in the games, he didn’t do that. Tonight was a great example of him clicking in all cylinders.”
June Mar Fajardo was also all praises for Wilkerson, saying, “Magaling yung import namin.”
The two-time MVP also noted the big contribution the reinforcement is giving to the team’s primary weapons.
“Mapapagaan yung games ko at medyo mababa na rin minutes ko, so di ako masyadong napupwersa. Sobrang sipag nya. Nakakaimpress,” Fajardo said.
Even stronger
However, Fajardo believes that the field just got even tougher as the teams have also adapted well to challenge San Miguel at the top of the mountain.
“Wala ng kasiguraduhan ngayon kasi malalakas na yung teams. Yung Mahindra nga, nasa ibaba, ngayon second sila sa Meralco. Yung mga teams ngayon, palakas na ng palakas,” he said.
But to his team’s defense, the Cebuano giant believes that San Miguel still has what it takes to make every game difficult for their opposition.
“Mahirap na kami bantayan kasi marami kaming threat sa labas. Yung import din may threat sa loob katulad ko. Mahihirapan din yung mga kalaban namin.”