San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Beer coach Jorge Gallent is sticking to the positives after his team’s unbeaten run in the PBA Governors’ Cup was stopped by Converge on Saturday night.
The Beermen’s run of five straight wins to open the coaching tenure of Gallent ended when they fell 107-103 to the FiberXers at Mall of Asia Arena in a game that saw them give up 21 free throws and star center June Mar Fajardo fouling out.
A win would have given San Miguel a virtual seat in the quarterfinals of the season-ending conference, but Gallent said there’s no more reason to dwell on the defeat at the hands of a Converge side that seems hell-bent on making itself a legitimate contender.
“We just have to bounce back from this loss,” said Gallent. “We’re still among the top teams in the league so we just have to go up, up and up. We’re not focused on the quarters, we’re more focused on winning games. And then if it comes, lucky for us.”
The Converge match is the third straight time that San Miguel faced a team considered among the contenders, having beaten Magnolia the previous Sunday and Meralco two nights prior.
And the Beermen’s calendar won’t be getting easier with three games on the slate next week, namely winless NorthPort on Feb. 15, new leader Barangay Ginebra on February 17 and TNT on Feb. 19.
San Miguel will then take a break to give way to its players who will be selected to suit up for Gilas Pilipinas in the sixth window of the Fiba World Cup Qualifiers, before the whole team heads to Japan for the East Asia Super League Champions Week to open March.
But Gallent pointed out that their opponents are facing busy schedules, which ideally even things out.
“Everybody has that kind of schedule,” he said. “It’s not only us. I think Ginebra also plays three games straight tomorrow, so it’s all fair.
“Ginebra plays three, TNT plays three, and the rest of the teams play three straight—Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. It’s just the same. It’s just the same like us.”