Uichico offers no excuses

In six previous Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) finals series, San Miguel Beer coach Joseph Uichico has lost only a single Game 1. Ominously, the loss came in the only finals where San Miguel wound up second. That was in this year’s Commissioner’s Cup finals against Red Bull.

Now, Uichico finds himself in the same unfamiliar situation. He’s won championships in the five finals where San Miguel drew first blood. Last Wednesday, Sta. Lucia Realty got the jump on the Beermen and took a 1-0 series lead via an 86-80 decision in the Governors Cup finals.

But Uichico isn’t surprised. And he’s far from panicking. Uichico says he knew the Realtors would play on an emotional high, coming from a 1-2 series deficit to whip Pop Cola in Game 5 of the semis last Sunday. He would’ve preferred San Miguel to play Sta. Lucia last Sunday to avoid a long 7-day layoff. But as it turned out, the Beermen had too much of a rest.

Was it a case of rust? Uichico isn’t discounting the possibility. "That’s the danger of a long layoff – you get a little stale, you tend to lose a bit of emotion," says Uichico. "In our style of practice, we don’t really scrimmage so there’s a tendency to get rusty with a long layoff. I think we waited too long for Game 1."

Still, Uichico offers no excuses for San Miguel’s setback.

"They were quicker to the ball than we were," he notes. "We’re a team that usually doesn’t win on blowouts because we don’t fastbreak. So every point counts. In Game 1, we gave up three points on technical foul shots because of illegal defense violations and we lost by six. We gave up too many transition points and too many crucial putbacks. Imagine their big guys scoring layups in transition. We weren’t as aggressive and Sta. Lucia was all pumped up."

The Realtors scored 10 fastbreak points, to San Miguel’s four, and collected 22 turnover points, to the Beermen’s 16. Sta. Lucia got its running game going from turnovers and outlets off defensive rebounds.

Uichico says he wasn’t surprised that coach Norman Black posted up import Damian Owens. "That’s what they did in Game 5 against Pop," he continues. "Owens invites the double and passes out. We knew it was coming. What hurt us was (Dennis) Espino sinking jumpers from Owens’ passes and (Marlou) Aquino scoring on cuts. But we had to double Owens or else he’ll score."

For the fourth straight game, Freddie Abuda didn’t play because of a sprain. Uichico says he’s monitoring Abuda’s progress before deciding whether or not to play him. However, if Abuda plays, he’ll likely match up against Owens. That will take away minutes from Danny Seigle and Dwight Lago because Lamont Strothers is a fixture at either No. 2 or No. 3. So it’s a Catch-22 problem for Uichico.

Dorian Peña stepped up in Game 1 but left the game early after suffering a sprain. He finished with 11 points and 17 rebounds in 29 minutes. Whether he’ll play in Game 2 is still a question mark. Uichico says Peña’s being iced and getting treatment. If the ankle swells, he’ll be doubtful for Game 2 tonight.

Uichico says the atmosphere in the San Miguel lockerroom was gloomy after the loss but hopeful. It’ll take four losses to beat us in the finals, not one," he continues. "The important thing is we don’t give Sta. Lucia the confidence to think they can win the series. Winning Game 1 doesn’t give them that confidence. Going up 2-0 might."

Uichico says it’s his job to set the plays for Strothers to pass off when he penetrates a clogged lane. "Lamont knows how to pass and when to pass," he explains. "But he’s got to know where the open man is. It’s my job to tell him."

Strothers’ inability to find an open man led to several poor shots – he hit only 10-of-31 from the floor – and botched plays. Relying mainly on isolations to exploit mismatches, San Miguel compiled only 10 assists to Sta. Lucia’s 17.

"It’s tough to play Sta. Lucia because even if Lamont gets past Owens, there’s a 6-9 guy waiting inside to block his layup," says Uichico.

Clearly, Sta. Lucia took away Strothers’ outside shot to funnel him inside where Aquino and Espino waited in ambush.

Uichico says he expects the Beermen to go all out in Game 2. "We’ll be fired up," he promises. There will be adjustments but of course, he’s not disclosing what’s in the works.

Uichico says he’s sticking to his pre-finals prediction that it will go six or seven. Which team does he pick to win? Uichico just laughs – he knows better than to answer that one.