Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
A lot of eyes were on San Miguel Beer on Sunday night, when the Beermen rallied in the final period to clip sister team Star and open the defense of their PBA Philippine Cup title—and get a “three-peat” going—on the right foot.
Alaska coach Alex Compton was among the observers as he dissected the San Miguel game to see what he will be dealing with.
The Aces will shoot for a first title since the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup and slay the ghost of last season’s ghastly collapse.
Compton watched the game intently at home and came to one conclusion: “To me, they look the same, they look like the same team that won the last two all-Filipinos. I surely would have wanted to see if they weakened somewhat.”
“But they are the same,” Compton went on. “There’s really not a weakness in that team.”
Compton was the logical man to be asked to evaluate San Miguel’s debut, having been on the bitter end of the most amazing Finals comeback in the history of the PBA—if not in pro sports all over the world—when the Aces blew a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven title series last season.
There’s no question that Compton and his hardy bunch of Aces gave the Beermen hell last year, and that they fell just short of shoving San Miguel over the cliff.
Compton acknowledges the greatness of June Mar Fajardo as the reason why San Miguel has been the most successful team in the last two seasons, but rattled off his observation on why the Beermen have won three titles since 2014.
“Because June Mar is drawing all the attention, the other players around him are getting their chance [to shine],” Compton said. “It’s not just June Mar who is carrying that team.”
Compton also believes that San Miguel has the toughest guard rotation in the league in Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter, whom he later labeled as the best “wing player in the PBA.”
“I think the guards in their team don’t get enough credit. I think they are the toughest guards in the league, and we haven’t factored in Arwind Santos there,” he said.
While Compton was much impressed with the way San Miguel played in the inaugurals, he believes that a lot of things can still happen before all of this is over.
“There’s no question that they are the team to beat and that they are the clear favorites, but are they beatable? Yes,” Compton said. “You can beat them in a game or two, we won three [in the Finals last year].
“We were successful in pushing them to the brink [last year], hopefully, we can push them over the brink this time.”