Beermen wary of inconsistent starts heading into playoffs

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Miguel is primed for yet another title run heading into the playoffs of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup with an 8-2 record and one more eliminations game in its schedule.

The Beermen brushed off also-ran Blackwater, 124-113, Wednesday at Cuneta Astrodome to tack on two straight wins, their first win streak since going 5-0 at the start of the conference, but earning their 8th win wasn’t met without hardships.

For the past five games, the Beermen has played inconsistent, with sluggish starts to their games.

Though their record of 3-2 in the last five games seems respectable, the first halves have been pedestrian at best.

And that is an area of concern for the Beermen, despite both outings ending in wins

“We’re worried about our performance because we’ve started slowly in our past two games and we can’t afford to have games like that,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria.

San Miguel, despite winning three out of five in the recent stretch, has been outplayed in the first 24 minutes of play.

Opponents were outscoring the Beermen 54 points per game to 50 ppg in the first halves of the last five matches.

Digging deeper into the numbers, San Miguel has been dismal in the two losses.

TnT and Barangay Ginebra ran the Beermen out of the gym in the first 24 minutes, 52.5 ppg to San Miguel’s 40.5 ppg.

Even the Beermen’s recent victory over the Elite started off poorly for San Miguel with Blackwater taking an early 72-56 lead going into the third.

Marcio Lassiter, who finished with 21 points and eight steals against the Elite, said it all boils down to how their defensive intensity responds to their opponent’s offensive power.

“We understand that the playoffs are around the corner and we have to continue to step up and play the defense we’re capable of playing,” said Lassiter. “It shouldn’t take us a half to realize that. We should be able to do that from the beginning, no matter who we’re playing.”

Austria, pointing to the league’s intangibles, said even if they get to take one of the top two spots in the conference, he’s still wary of the 7th or 8th seeded teams come playoff time.

“Even if we get to the top two, we’re still not assured of a sure spot because the teams in the bottom have the materials to beat any team in the league and we should be very careful because every team wants to beat us,” said Austria.