Beermen wary of injuries, bad habits in Philippine Cup's crucial stretch

MANILA, Philippines – They may be on the brink of finishing the eliminations with just a dent on their Philippine Cup record, but the San Miguel Beermen are not taking any chances.

"Ito na 'yung crucial part," said back-to-back-to-back Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo. "Kailangan healthy kami."

The Cebuano behemoth once hurt his knee on the Beermen's way to the 2016 Philippine Cup Finals. And the gloomy, uneasy feeling of having to compete without enough tools is something San Miguel wouldn't want to experience again.

"'Di pwedeng bababa ang laro namin sa playoffs," Fajardo added.

Alex Cabagnot, who foiled Rain or Shine's recent attempt to derail his team's unbeaten streak of seven wins, also said team shouldn't focus only on their physical vulnerabilities.

"We'll just try to not create bad habits," the guard said. "We just have to keep playing fundamentally.

Even though they’re steadily latched atop the conference ladder, the Beermen sound like they haven't moved on from a stunning loss against a Phoenix team that – up to this day – is still looking for identity.

They were unable to equal the Fuel Masters' scoring output despite their deep arsenal in that tussle in Antipolo City. They proved to be no match to their foe's balanced scoring, led by JC Intal.

Now, with a guaranteed seat in the quarterfinals, San Miguel is not looking to switch to low gear, even if they only have two more games left in the first round.

"Work's just getting started," said the team's top defender Chris Ross.

"Going to the conference, we said we wanted to get one of the top two slots and since we dropped that game to Phoenix a couple of months ago, we're playing really good ball. We need one more game to clinch first to be sure," he continued.

"That feels good," Ross said of his wins and the team's current standing. "But we got to put that on the side and go on to our next goal."

The Beermen will take on GlobalPort next in Cebu on January 21. They wrap the first phase of their bid to keep the conference championship with a clash with TNT on January 28.