San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—The trend of lower bottom teams of the past making a name for themselves has caught the attention of San Miguel after its conference-opening win in the PBA Philippine Cup.
After the Beermen’s 109-97 victory over Rain or Shine at Araneta Coliseum on Friday, coach Jorge Gallent acknowledged the ongoing trend of past conference’s cellar dwellers rising to the occasion in the all-Filipino conference.
“All of the teams just stepped up. I’m sure they practiced a lot and prepared for this conference so I’m not shocked that those teams are up there,” said Gallent.
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“We just can’t relax and we just have to match their energy and if not, those teams can have a good chance of beating us.”
As of writing, Ginebra and the Beermen are the one and two seeds, respectively, mostly due to having the fewest games for starting late in the tournament.
The surprise comes when one looks at the third to the eighth seeds.
Coming in at three is NLEX with a 4-1 record while Blackwater sits at four with a 3-1 card. Both teams failed to make the playoffs last conference.
READ: PBA: With rare start, Blackwater see end to being league backwater
Northport and TNT sit at five and six, respectively. Both squads got bounced out of the first round in the PBACommissioner’s Cup.
Terrafirma, which for the longest time, was considered a doormat team, is in the seventh seed at 2-2 while Phoenix, which reached the semifinals a few months ago, is barely scraping by in the playoff picture with a 1-2 record.
Surprisingly, even long-time San Miguel gunner Marcio Lassiter wasn’t surprised with how teams are faring in the import-less tournament.
“The league is getting better. The bottom seeds had a month and a half of preparation so they’re coming out strong,” said Lassiter.
“It’s a long conference, they’re doing good but at the end of the day, it’s still early. Everyone has their peaks and valleys so when we face them, we’ll treat them as any other team. We’ll come out and give our best efforts.”
“I know all 11 teams want to come out and give their A game. That’s what I’ve noticed. We’re never going to get them below par, we’re always going to get the best A+ game from all the teams so we just have to train our minds and bodies like it’s a playoff game,” he added.
Lassiter finished with 17 points built on five buckets made from beyond the arc.