San Miguel Beermen. PBA IMAGES
San Miguel coach Leo Austria expressed his concern with most of the Beermen’s big men sidelined through their buildup for the incoming 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup.
Austria went as far as to say the Beermen are still not ready with a week left before the opener.
“We’re not yet ready for the third conference. A lot of key players namin, especially the big man are not practicing with us. I’m a little bit worried with our situation,” he said.
June Mar Fajardo is coming off his stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament while Arwind Santos, Gabby Espinas, and Yancy de Ocampo are all still nursing injuries, leaving the bulk of the load on the front court on import AZ Reid, JayR Reyes, and reserve Michael Mabulac.
With the two-time MVP set to return to practice on Monday, Austria is hopeful that his prized big man will give the Beermen the boost they obviously lacked in the offseason.
“I’m hoping June Mar is still in shape. I’m sure he will be,” the coach said. “Wala lang sya ngayon kasi talagang masakit yung pagkatalo ng Gilas and he’s taking his time to reflect. But I hope that by Monday siguro, naka-refocus na uli sya sa team namin.”
Even Reid has also noticed the lack of intensity in the training sessions, saying “I don’t think we’re the same team by any means. We have to go back to playing the way we played because right now, we’re not.”
“We got to have better practice habits. We got to work a little harder in practice. It’s not going to be easy because every team is getting better, even the bottom teams are getting better. We just have to focus. We have to be ready,” he continued.
The former Best Import, though, is confident that the rest of the team will step up with the Beermen’s core group still not in top shape.
“We’re missing the core, but we won’t make any excuses,” said Reid. “We’re professional so you got to be ready anytime. Other guys are getting the opportunities and this is their chance to show what they can do. We’ll see what happens.”
But despite the off-season struggles, the Beermen are still expected to be the top contenders in the season-ending conference.
“Every conference, ang pressure nasa amin because everybody is expecting us to win,” he said. “We will see sa conference kung anong kulang pa sa amin. If we play as team on both ends at andun pa yung gutom ng team, capable itong team na manalo.”