SAN Miguel coach Leo Austria hopes to finally see some sense of urgency from the Beermen as they enter Game 3 of their PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup quarterfinals fighting for their lives, down 0-2.
The Beermen are one loss away from ending their season after suffering a 126-99 defeat against Barangay Ginebra in Game 2 of their best-of-five quarterfinal series.
Facing elimination, Austria told his players after Game 2 to shape up or else, their next playoff game would be next season.
READ: Tim Cone warns against complacency as Ginebra eyes sweep vs. SMB
“I’m hoping na sa next game, talagang ma-realize nila. Sana hindi last game namin dahil sinabi ko sa kanila, let us not wait another season for us to get into the playoffs,” said Austria.
Austria felt the Beermen have somewhat become complacent after the end of their elimination round where they came from behind to beat NLEX, 135-133.
But Austria also said Barangay Ginebra’s preparation against San Miguel has made them one step ahead.
“You have to credit Ginebra. It seems to me na talagang well-studied nila ‘yung mga movement namin maybe because of the previous game namin sa kanila during the playoffs. If I were in their shoes, talagang pag-aaralan ko mabuti against San Miguel. And that’s what happened,” Austria said.
“In our case, going to the playoffs, na-overwhelm yata kami nung pagkapanalo namin sa NLEX. What I observe is that we are a little bit complacent and the energy that we are trying to have, hindi ko pa nakikita. ‘Yung sense of urgency, hindi ko pa nakikita,” he added.
The loss in Game 2 saw their import George King underperforming after he scored a conference-low 13 points, not enough contribution to complement the 18 and 17 points of Cjay Perez and Jerrick Ahanmisi.
But Austria trusts his team that things will change come Game 3.
“We are trying to regroup and I told the team na we still have to be positive because they (Ginebra) need another win for the to get into the next round. But the chance is still there. It’s up to us,” said Austria.
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