WENDELL Mckines insisted the flagrant foul 1 he committed late in the third quarter of Rain or Shine’s 101-95 loss to San Miguel Beer was hardly the turning point of Game One of their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series on Thursday night.
The Elasto Painters import had to take a seat for three minutes after committing an unsportsmanlike foul on Ronald Tubid, hitting the SMB enforcer at the back of the head with one minute and 19 seconds left in the third.
The incident allowed the Beermen to turn a four-point deficit into a one-point lead heading into the final frame.
But Mckines felt it was solely the Beermen’s zone defense that sparked San Miguel’s comeback from as much as a 24-pooint deficit.
“Hell no (it wasn’t the flagrant foul). It was the zone,” the energetic American forward said. “You don’t have to make it more difficult and dramatic.”
Mckines returned early in the fourth and still did damage, scoring seven of his 33 points to keep the Painters within striking distance.
But the Beermen continued to employ a zone that frustrated the Rain or Shine import.
“They sent two, three people to box me out,” he said. “We just got to adjust to the zone. That’s it. That simple. They couldn’t guard us man to man.”