LEO Austria was quick to admit that San Miguel didn’t play to its full potential against Blackwater and paid dearly for it in a 126-120 loss on Wednesday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The San Miguel coach said the lack of energy and effort explained the Beermen’s flat start that saw them trail the Bossing by as much as 22 points - and a lackluster stand in a tightly fought endgame.
READ Barefield, Andrade complete stunning Blackwater upset over SMB
“There are a lot of lessons to take regarding this game,” he said, adding the contest went down to effort - or the Beermen's lack of it - in the endgame.
“Yung fourth quarter yung second chance points nila, yung mga offensive rebounds nila (BJ) Andrade, CJ Austria. Parang we take it for granted e, because who would have thought naman, we beat NLEX, Converge, and Ginebra, and then ito it’s a team that is in the bottom four.”
In a way, that rousing 98-94 win over the Road Warriors the last time that marked the comeback of import Bennie Boatwright gave the Beermen a false sense of complacency, according to Austria.
“They thought it’s easy for us to win against Blackwater kasi nga yung one foot nila nandun na sa labas,” the veteran coach said of the Bossing, who were coming off four straight losses before pulling off the stunning win that improved their record to 2-6.
“Before the game, I already told them this team is out to make an upset because nagkaroon ng coaching changes, ng players’ changes. So yung focus nila is out to win,” said Austria.
San Miguel fell to a 4-5 record - just inside the Magic 8 that will make the playoffs.
The team will have Meralco, Terrafirma, and Phoenix as its final three assignments, all of which are crucial in the Beermen’s bid to lock up a place in the quarterfinals.
“We’re still in contention, we need to beat these three teams especially Terrafirma and Phoenix,” he said, pointing out that the Dyip (3-5) and Fuel Masters (5-3) are both within reach of the reigning Philippine Cup champions.
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