Leo Austria. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Beer head coach Leo Austra knows what it takes to win and he can also feel a sense of urgency from anyone when the situation calls for it.
Austria is a six-time champion in the PBA, including four straight Philippine Cups, so when the Beermen faced Phoenix in Game 3 of the semifinals in the all-Filipino Conference the multi-titled tactician knew they will be in a dogfight.
The Beermen had a chance to take a commanding 3-0 series lead but the Fuel Masters had other plans and held on to a 92-90 win and Austria expected Phoenix to bring the fight to them.
“Before the start of the game, I told the team that it will be difficult to beat Phoenix today because they know what’s their situation right now,” said Austria Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“If they get down 3-0 then that’s going to be tough. I think we’re the only ones who came back from a 0-3 series deficit,” added Austria, pertaining to the Beermen’s improbable rally in the 2016 Philippine Cup where they climbed out of a 0-3 hole to beat the Alaska Aces.
The Fuel Masters enjoyed an absurd rebounding advantage over the Beermen, 71-49, including 28-15 on the offensive glass.
San Miguel also missed 17 out of their 39 free throws attempts, including five in the fourth quarter.
The Beermen also could not find the range hitting just 10-of-47 from deep for 23 percent which was a far cry from their 40% conversion during the eliminations.
“You have to give credit to them, they really wanted to win,” said Austria of the Fuel Masters. “We missed a lot of free throws, we missed a lot of three-pointers, and we gave up a lot of rebounds.”
Despite all of those, San Miguel came just a Chris Ross 3-pointer away from stealing Game 4. Ross misfired on a potential game-wining triple as time was running out.
“Next time, we’ll have to stick to what our game plan is because we played their game tonight. We’re not able to make those shots that should be winning shots. I know everybody wants to win but we just came up short.”