CJ Perez mentioned three words that spelled the doom for San Miguel in Game 1 of its PBA Philippine Cup semifinals against Barangay Ginebra.
Free throws and defense.
The San Miguel guard mentioned both as huge factors that contributed to the Beermen’s 99-90 loss in Sunday’s series opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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Perez finished as the Beermen’s second best scorer with 18 points but shot just 37 percent from the field. He also accounted for two of the team’s misses from the free throw line, where the defending champions shot just 48 percent.
In all, San Miguel was 15-of-31 from the 15-foot line.
“Malaking bagay yung free throws. Ang dami naming mintis,” Perez acknowledged.
June Mar Fajardo had the most number of misses by going 5-of-12, while Rodney Brondial was 0-for-4. Perez shot 4-of-6 from the stripe.
And then, there’s San Miguel’s defense.
The Beermen gave the Kings a lot of open looks from the outside, and coach Tim Cone’s boys were quick to capitalize by scoring 24 points from three-point range including a pair by Norbert Torres and Ralph Cu in a telling fourth-quarter blitz.
Cu was 4-of-6 from the 3-range and finished with 13 points, while former MVP Scottie Thompson shot a near-perfect 4-of-5.
“Yun defense, medyo nag-ano…sa defense,” said the 32-year-old Perez. “I think yun ang big factors, defense and free throws.”
But Perez sees the Beermen bouncing back like they've always done when losing in Game 1 or when down in a series.
“Yun naman talaga ang basketball. And mahaba pa naman yung series. So mag-prepare kami kung ano yung dapat naming i-adjust,” he said.
The top seeded Beermen and No. 5 Kings duke it out anew in Game 2 on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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