Beermen still a little lacking

Written by Joel Orellana / Reporter
Tuesday, 07 July 2009 00:31

ONLY two players were out, but apparently, a lot more was missing from the San Miguel Beer squad.

Danny Ildefonso and Marc Pingris were serving suspensions for trying to attack a fan in the previous game, but for a San Miguel side brimming with talent, it was not considered a huge handicap.

Only on Sunday, in Game Three of the Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta (PBA) Conference Finals against Barangay Ginebra, the rest of the squad seemed unable to fill the void.



The absence of the two All-Star forwards was hardly felt by the Beermern in the first half, when Jay Washington erupted for 18 points and the team took a 61-48 lead entering the last 24 minutes, only for the team to fall silent and lose, 103-116.

That meant a 1-2 deficit in the series, which ticked off head coach Siot Tanquingcen.

“Our concern is not having those two guys or J-Wash [Washington]scoring only four points in the second half. If we play our defense right, it won’t be an issue. And we have enough people to fill in what is needed,” said Tanquingcen.

Ildefonso tried to attack a fan whom he claimed waved a dirty finger at him while he was making a free throw in Game Two. Pingris sympathized with Ildefonso and also tried to attack the fan himself. Big Dome security stood in between, but the result was a one-game suspension each and a P30,000 and P10,000 fine, respectively, for the two Beermen.

“At the start of the season, I always tell the guys that this team is not about the name at the back of the uniform, it’s about the name in front of the uniform,” Tanquingcen said.


San Miguel could not stop the Kings after the break, allowing 68 points in the second half, 40 in the fourth quarter, while Washington was held to just four points on one-of-seven shooting from the field.


“That’s why basketball is really a good metaphor for life. We have to get the job done as a whole, and I think we are very much capable of doing that,” said Tanquingcen.

“J-Wash might go scoreless, but for the whole season, we have five or six players scoring in double digits and it is not a concern. We need to come out more aggressively on defense and that was lacking in Game Three,” he said.

“And you’re not gonna win if you allow a team to score 40 points in one quarter.”

Tanquingcen said Game Four will be crucial for the team as a loss would mean his team will be in a 1-3 hole.

Only one team in PBA Finals history has ever overcome that deficit. And that team is Ginebra—in the 1991 Third Conference Finals against Shell. Rudy Distrito capped that championship run with a game-winning Hail Mary basket in Game Seven.

If there’s one thing that favors the Beermen in Game Four, apart from having Ildefonso and Pinrgis back, it is because the team has yet to lose back-to-back this conference.

“We just can’t rely on that, though, we have to do our part,” Tanquingcen said.