A revitalized June Mar Fajardo (with ball) gives Leo Austria a lot of reason to be optimistic. —PBA IMAGES
San Miguel Beer’s 99-91 overtime loss to Hong Kong in Sunday night’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup amounted to a double black eye for the traditional powerhouse.
Counting their match in the East Asia Super League earlier last week, the Beermen have now suffered back-to-back setbacks at the hands of the Hong Kong club. The Beermen also missed out on giving its new import Jabari Narcis a rousing start to his PBA career, making for terrible optics as Torren Jones had been undefeated since taking over Quincy Miller.
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But all that has hardly shaken the belief of returning coach Leo Austria.
“There was still an opportunity for us to win—especially in the regulation,” the champion coach told reporters shortly after the clash at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City that had San Miguel dropping to solo 7th with a 3-3 win-loss card.
“We had the last shot. We just weren’t able to execute well off the timeout. We had a chance so I told [the players] that there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he added.
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The defeat was the first blemish on Austria’s PBA record since reclaiming his post in the dynastic franchise. A win would’ve not only leveled their EASL-PBA trilogy with Eastern, but it would’ve also given the Beermen a positive end to the year.
Austria said that perhaps the players are still adjusting to Narcis, a 6-foot-9 standout from Trinidad and Tobago whom the brain trust and the players elected to replace Torren as a PBA import and has only been practicing for two days. But there was also no denying that the team was an eyesore throughout the contest.
“It’s actually an ugly game because we gave away 25 points off 22 turnovers. Can you imagine? That’s one-quarter’s worth in possessions,” he pointed out. “That’s the culprit.”
Yuletide break
Narcis, for his part, was decent, putting up 28 points on an 11-for-29 shooting to go with 10 rebounds. He wasn’t disruptive of cornerstone June Mar Fajardo, who finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds, and five assists. CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter were also productive, finishing with at least 13 points each.
And that’s one of the reasons why Austria remains unfazed.
“[Imagine] if [everything we’re trying to teach] has become second nature [to everyone]; and when the players finally gain some sense of fluidity with the game?” the nine-time champion coach posited.
San Miguel is now on Yuletide break and will return to work on Dec. 26. Save for the New Year revelries, Austria said they’ll work nonstop in preparation for a whirlwind January schedule that begins against fancied Barangay Ginebra.
That clash with a corporate sibling will be followed by another against Magnolia. The Beermen then battle higher-ranked teams Meralco, NorthPort and Converge until it takes on Governors’ Cup titlist TNT by end of the month.
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“I think come playoff time—should we make it there—we’ll have a different ball game,” he said.
