Battle on top: SMB, Star collide

San Miguel Beermen. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Miguel Beer and Star, sister teams tipped to crowd each other for the PBA Governors’ Cup, are built practically the same way.

Hotshots coach Chito Victolero, though, knows exactly what has been giving the Beermen the edge over everyone else in the past few years that established a modern-day dynasty the field is trying to shoot down at the moment.

“They are mentally very tough already,” Victolero said over the phone after preparing his Hotshots for an elimination round clash with their nemesis at 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday. “That’s what has separated us from them so far.

“That’s why in preparing (the Hotshots for this game), I told them that we need to play solid on both ends, to play hard for the full 48 minutes,” he went on. “That’s what we are lacking when we are compared to them, they (Beermen) seem to be tougher mentally.”

Victolero remembers how the Beermen won out in their Final Four series in the Commissioner’s Cup before eventually bagging the championship, the second jewel in San Miguel’s frenzied Triple Crown chase.

The first year head coach of Star even remembers how the Beermen trumped TNT KaTropa in the title series, and just very recently, a couple of nights ago.

“They seem to know what needs to be done in the endgame. That’s every game,” he said. “Seldom do you see them (Beermen) panic. That’s what we are aiming for.”

With 2-0 records, a victory could mean critical at the end of the elimination round where ties are broken via the quotient system and could mean lighter foes in the early rounds of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Texters, after a 97-91 loss at the hands of the Beermen on Wednesday, try to rebound from that when they collide with struggling Alaska in the 4:15 p.m. contest.

Star will be coming off a 101-92 win over the Aces where import Malcolm Hill made his pro debut.

The youngest at 22 and coming here straight out of Illinois, Hill will continue to be tested, though Victolero acknowledges that he likes what he sees as far as the attitude and work ethic are concerned.

“He works very hard and that is what he is telling us,” Victolero said of Hill, who scored 28 points in the win over the Aces. “He wants us to know that by hard work, he can offset the disadvantage he has against the other imports as far as experience is concerned.”

Hill is expected to help out as the Hotshots try to contain reigning three-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, who has been his dominant self all-season long, without giving San Miguel’s array of shooters open looks at the basket.