San Miguel Beermen. PBA IMAGES
As if to atone for barely avoiding a humiliating setback from winless cellar dweller Mahindra six days ago, San Miguel Beer finally showed the form that carried the Beermen to the lead Saturday in their defense of the PBA Philippine Cup they captured with the league’s most impressive feat so far.
Taking the brunt of the sudden and deadly transformation of the defending champion Beermen were the Road Warriors of NLEX, who were blown away as early as the first half and eventually lost, 106-80, at the Xavier gym in Cagayan de Oro.
Unloading 18 three-point shots to back up an unforgiving defense, SMB notched a fourth win in five games after struggling past Star (96-88), Alaska (93-88) and Mahindra (94-91).
Only a scrambling 15-point run that included seven of eight free throws down the stretch had actually prevented Mahindra from duplicating the 92-85 upset earlier pulled off against SMB by Phoenix Petroleum that highlighted the first five playing days of the pro league’s opening tournament for 2016-2017.
Based on forms so far, Mahindra (0-5), NLEX (1-4) and Phoenix (2-3) need to do a lot of scrambling to make it to the top eight teams that will advance to the quarterfinals after the single round of eliminations.
Surprising GlobalPort is second at 3-1 behind SMB, which ruled this tournament last season after coming back from 0-3 in the title playoffs to frustrate Alaska with a four-game closing run never before seen in the league since its birth in 1975.
Blackwater, another resurgent squad, seems a strong Top 8 candidate at 3-2 like TNT.
The top two teams after the single round will enjoy a twice-to-beat bonus against the No. 7 and No. 8 teams in the quarterfinals.
Jamike Jarin said it was the challenge of transforming the National U Bulldogs into a title contender again that was behind his decision to leave the San Beda Lions and elevate his coaching prowess to the UAAP.
But it’s easy to say he was merely doing an Aldin Ayo, who gravitated from Letran to La Salle after a tempting offer from the school’s chief sports patron, Danding Cojuangco, even with the din of the Knights’ upset of the Lions and Jarin for the 2015 NCAA championship still to subside.
This time handling a powerful lineup, Ayo recently guided La Salle to the UAAP crown with an overall 16-1 record.
The second title for Ayo came several days after Jarin redeemed himself when San Beda regained this year’s NCAA crown by sweeping Arellano University in the finals.
Eric Altamirano resigned after a six-year stint with NU, which he gifted with a first crown in 60 years in 2014.
NU finished with a 5-9 record this year.