Beermen go for crown

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria feels a lesson in history will come in handy for the Beermen, especially in facing a team known for its resilience.

Despite the way they’ve dominated the series and left Barangay Ginebra scrambling in their wake, the Beermen coach still couldn’t help but bring up the possibility of a repeat of their historic comeback last season—this time, at their expense.

So expect no letup from the Beermen as they take the first of three cracks at the PBA Philippine Cup perpetual trophy starting Sunday night in Game 5 against the Gin Kings at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“Three-one is a commanding lead, but we’re not sure yet,” said Austria, whose team can become the second ball club to win three straight All-Filipino crowns after Talk ‘N Text pulled off the feat from 2011 to 2013.

“Coach Tim (Cone) is a good coach. He has been in this situation. We have been in this situation so the possibility is still there.

“We were 0-3 down, but we upset Alaska last year,” said Austria. “We’re facing a great coach [and] a tough team supported by a large crowd.”

“We have to be careful that it doesn’t happen to us,” said San Miguel forward Arwind Santos in Filipino.

History favors San Miguel, which has won the last two editions of the All-Filipino Cup, including last year when it rallied from 0-3 down in the finals against Alaska—marking the first time a team came back from that deficit.

Only two out of 36 teams have come back from a 1-3 hole in a seven-game series and while Cone is the league’s winningest coach with 19 titles, none of those came when his teams were facing the same deficit.

With the exception of Game 2 which the Gin Kings took in overtime, 124-118, in Lucena City, the Beermen seem to find an answer to every Gin Kings assault.

In contrast, the Gin Kings couldn’t seem to figure out a way to take the Beermen out of their rhythm the past two games, particularly down the stretch where they were also made to bleed for their points.

With Ginebra’s defense focused on June Mar Fajardo, San Miguel pounced on the opportunities from beyond the arc, hitting a series-high 15 triples in Game 4 to push Ginebra to the brink. As he has done for most of the series, Chris Ross took charge in the clutch with five treys, apart from his stellar playmaking.

“It’s a deep hole and we’ve got to see if we can climb out of it,” said Cone. “We’re just focused on Game 5, that’s all we’re worried about.”