THE last time they played which was just a few days ago, the San Miguel Beermen were mauled on the court and threatened to be traded by management.
Those are the things San Miguel players hope to avoid when they return to the court on Saturday in a game against Meralco - just three days after suffering a 78-83 loss to expansion team KIA in their PBA Governors Cup debut.
San Miguel's loss to the Carnival left so much bad taste in the mouth that coach Leo Austria questioned the players' commitment and governor Robert Non threatened to make trades to shake up the team from its stupor.
[See Fuming SMB official threatens to trade players after shock loss to KIA]
“I questioned the attitude of the players. It’s a matter of desire because energy-wise, meron silang energy pero di nilalabas e. Ang nalalabas nila negeative energy,” rued Austria, still steaming over the defeat.
As it is, there's something else San Miguel wants to avoid.
Just weeks after winning the Philippine Cup, the Beermen went 0-4 to start the Commissioner's Cup and failed to reach the playoffs. Austria dreads the thought of that happening again.
“I think we have to regroup in our next game against Meralco. We cannot afford to have another 0-4 (start),” Austria said.
San Miguel, at least, will be facing this time another team that is off to a struggling start. The Bolts opened the season-ending conference with a 92-73 loss at the hands of the surprising GlobalPort Batang Pier on Tuesday.
The Beermen can also expect a healthier AZ Reid, who battled a bum stomach in the game against KIA and played just limited minutes, finishing with just 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
