Motivated

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Leo Austria and San Miguel Beer have been playing in—and winning—so many title series in the PBA in the last four years that some might think they have lost the appetite for it.

Everyone will be surprised to find out that they are approaching the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title series with the same zest they had when they chased—and won—their first, especially since they have some sort of unfinished business with the team on the other end of the floor.

“Every time you play (Barangay) Ginebra in a Finals is special,” Austria told the Inquirer on the eve of Game 1 at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao. “The players remember what happened last year, when the expectations for (us to win) the Grand Slam were so high.”

The Gin Kings ousted the Beermen in the Governors’ Cup’s Final Four last season and effectively snuffed out San Miguel’s shot at a Triple Crown sweep, and Austria believes that this is firing up his charges for the series that starts 7 p.m. on Friday.

“Every championship (bid) is special,” Austria added. “But this one carries something more for my players since this will put us on track again toward another shot at the Grand Slam.”

Austria said that they did nothing special in practice leading up to the series opener. They went through their usual plays and he believes that there will be no pressure on his Beermen even though Ginebra will have the crowd throughout the best-of-seven series.

“They (Beermen) are used to the pressure, I saw that right after we won our first title together,” said the multititled coach, who is a perfect 6-for-6 in title series appearances with San Miguel.

Tim Cone will try to blemish Austria’s record and the two-time Grand Slam champion coach will have a full armory with the 7-foot Greg Slaughter in the pink of health—an able match for reigning four-time MVP June Mar Fajardo.

“That’s a thing of the past,” Austria said of his Finals record. “I come into every series not trying to protect that, but aiming to win the next championship.”

Austria won the last time he and Cone squared off for a championship, when Ginebra played without Slaughter in the 2016-17 Philippine Cup Finals.

Both sides will be coming in with healthy rosters for the series and Austria has added a key piece to the lineup in top rookie pick Christian Standhardinger.

With the 6-foot-7 Standhardinger, Austria can go toe-to-toe with Ginebra in terms of size, and with imports Renaldo Balkman and Justin Brownlee expected to cancel each other out, deciding the series will most likely be how the locals will perform.

Fajardo remains to be the biggest matchup problem for Cone, although no one expects Ginebra to play the 6-foot-10 behemoth one-on-one.