A MISUNDERSTANDING over a last-minute instruction before the half led to an exchange of words between coach Leo Austria and CJ Perez in San Miguel’s 111-92 win over Phoenix on Sunday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Austria was seen reprimanding Perez just before the Beermen proceeded to their dugout at the break after the Fuel Masters’ Jason Perkins scored just before the halftime buzzer to trim the Beermen's lead to 64-50.
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Apparently, Perez failed to follow the directive of the coaching staff to give up a foul since the Beermen still had one to spare before going to penalty.
Unfortunately, no foul was made and Perez instead tried to double on defense, leaving Perkins open for a layup.
“We’re on a run and very competitive so ang instruction is to make a foul. Kaso si CJ nag-double, kaya may naiwan na libreng tao and naka-score sila before the halftime,” recalled Austria of the sequence.
But the champion coach played down the incident, saying everything was quickly set aside the moment the Beerment returned to the court for the third quarter.
“Wala naman talaga yun. Nag-sorry naman agad si CJ. Nangyayari naman ang mga ganun,” said Austria.
Other than that blunder, Perez was on fire the entire game for San Miguel. He finished with a game-high 26 points after shooting 12-of-22 spiked by two 3s.
Perez added five rebounds, four assists, and two steals as the Beermen bounced back from their 89-84 loss to TNT Tropang 5G last week and improved to 4-2 overall.
Along with Don Trollano and Mo Tautuaa, he sparked San Miguel’s second-quarter breakaway that saw the Beermen outscore Phoenix, 34-21, to finally take control of the game.
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