Reyes, Austria see long, rough road to PH Cup title

Chot Reyes (left) and Leo Austria do away with the pleasantries as they battle for the Jun Bernardino trophy. —PBA IMAGES

TNT and San Miguel Beer spent Friday afternoon doing the customary exchange of complements as the two teams met for the first time since setting up their showdown for the PBA’s crown jewel.

But, as much as they displayed either genuine praise for making the Philippine Cup Finals or a way to play mind games before things get underway, the coaches of both squads agree that they’ll likely endure a slow race instead of a sprint to see which one ends up lifting the Jun Bernardino Trophy.

“If you look at both sides, it’s very evenly matched,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes when asked of the upcoming Philippine Cup title series which starts on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“The chances are 50-50,” SMB’s Leo Austria later said in the pre-Finals press conference held at Novotel Manila, also located in Quezon City’s Cubao district. “Both teams are very competitive and both teams have prepared well for this conference.”

But Austria said his crew and Reyes’ squad are still going to face the unknown in the best-of-seven affair featuring teams that dominated the conference considered as the PBA’s most important.

The two teams have combined for 10 of the last 13 All-Filipino championships, with TNT pulling it off last season to add to its victory in 2009 plus a run of three straight from 2011 to 2013, and San Miguel reigning supreme five consecutive times from 2015 to 2019.

Equally talented

A repeat will enable TNT to keep hold of the 3.3-foot tall silverware and give its coach something to celebrate amid his other role, an embattled one, calling the shots for Gilas Pilipinas.

For San Miguel, it is hoping to get back to its old throne following unsuccessful tries in the previous two seasons with Death Five remnant June Mar Fajardo teaming up with a talented player in CJ Perez and a hard-working group that includes Jericho Cruz.

“For us, the important thing is to stay patient and understand how difficult this series is going to be,” Reyes said. “We have no illusions about it, of how strong the other team is. We just need to be prepared.”

Austria and the Beermen also have no illusions of how good TNT is, with the principals from last season’s title run still being the central figures for its latest trip to the all-Filipino finale.

Austria took note that the Tropang Giga are not just a team that will rely heavily on top gunner Mikey Williams, as seen in the semifinal series against the Magnolia Hotshots when players like Jayson Castro, Poy Erram and RR Pogoy came through.

‘All are capable’

“Mikey is not the only player on the TNT team,” said Austria. “The dangerous thing about this team is that all of them are capable scorers.”

There’s no question that TNT and SMB will have to do their homework well in order to end up on top, regardless of how long—or short—it takes.

“My prediction is that the shortest [the series goes] is four games and the longest is seven games,” Austria jokingly said.