Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—There’s no need for further analysis to determine why San Miguel Beer lost to Magnolia in Game 3 of the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals as far as head coach Leo Austria is concerned.
Numbers don’t lie and the stat sheet showed how the Hotshots took a 2-1 series lead on Sunday night.
“imagine this 46 versus to 71 and 28 offensive rebounds to 14 so that means we were outhustled,” Austria told reporters while looking at the stat sheet following an 86-82 loss.
The Hotshots dominated the rebounding department, 71-46, with Ian Sangalang, Rafi Reavis and Rome dela Rosa combining for 40 rebounds.
The 41-year-old Reavis alone nearly had as much offensive rebounds as San Miguel with 10 as he put on another vintage showing.
And it’s not just the rebounds.
The Beermen, just like in their 99-94 loss in the finals opener, struggled to find the bottom of the net.
“Shooting 32.9 percent is very low for us. In the past our shooting percentage in the finals is 40 plus to 50 percent. It is very low so that’s it, I think that’s the culprit,” Austria said as if repeating his words in Game 1.
That horrendous shooting is largely due to Magnolia’s suffocating defense right from the opening tip.
“I think Magnolia did a great adjustment in the game and they were able to disrupt our pattern. We’re not able to run our pattern according to our game plan. Credit to Magnolia, they limited us to just 82 points,” Austria said.
“Their defense is clogging our big men in the post. Every entry pass is denied and we’re not able to hit our outside shots. It’s hard to win when it’s like that. We were outhustled and outran and i guess our effort was not enough,” he added.
Arwind Santos led the Beermen in scoring with 19 points but he had 22 attempts and converted only eight.
Even June Mar Fajardo had trouble in dealing what Magnolia threw at him as the reigning five-time MVP shot 4-of-11 from the field to finish with 17 points.
Game 4 is on Wednesday with Austria this time, hoping to make the necessary adjustments to avoid a 1-3 hole.