First to the Finals

San Miguel Beer broomed Talk ‘N’ Text out of contention via a 4-0 sweep of their semifinal series and is first to the Finals in the PBA Philippine Cup. The clincher came at the Mall of Asia Arena last Friday with the Beermen surviving 28 turnovers to eliminate the Texters, 100-87. San Miguel will play the winner of the Alaska-Rain Or Shine tie in the best-of-seven Finals. Game 6 of the battle between the Aces and Elasto Painters is scheduled on Jan. 4 when the PBA returns from a 7-day break.

It’ll be a long rest for the Beermen who took only four games to dispose of the Tropa. Game 4 was San Miguel’s fourth outing in 14 days while it was the Texters’ sixth in the same period. The Beermen enjoyed a 10-day layoff by virtue of claiming one of two outright semifinal tickets straight out of the eliminations. In contrast, Talk ‘N’ Text had to go through Barako Bull and Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinals before advancing to the semifinals. The wear and tear in the Tropa’s armor was evident.

In Game 1, the Beermen won by 23, 109-86. In Game 2, the margin was down to six but San Miguel still prevailed, 87-81. Game 3 could’ve gone either way. Talk ‘N’ Text had the final possession and Ranidel de Ocampo missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer as San Miguel escaped with a hairline 96-95 decision. In Game 4, the Tropa was held to less than 20 points in each of the second and third periods and 38 percent field goal shooting the entire way. The Texters were a step slow in switching and breaking through picks as San Miguel went crazy on offense, hitting at a lofty 59 percent clip.

JuneMar Fajardo, the reigning league MVP, was dominant in Game 4, delivering 28 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots. The downside was his nine turnovers. Talk ‘N’ Text coach Jong Uichico unleashed a battery of defenders to contain Fajardo from Kelly Williams to Ranidel de Ocampo to Jay Washington. When Fajardo was doubled or triple-teamed, he looked for open teammates and was good for five dimes.

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San Miguel coach Leo Austria didn’t just rely on Fajardo and Arwind Santos playing the two-man strong side game. He confounded the defense by working the ball around for the extra pass, finding Marcio Lassiter or Chris Lutz or Alex Cabagnot for the conversion. San Miguel’s unselfish play was reflected in its 26 assists in Game 1, 14 in Game 2, 24 in Game 3 and 18 in Game 4. Because Austria has so many weapons in his arsenal, it was easy to execute the offense with motion. On the defensive end, San Miguel was just as efficient. Talk ‘N’ Text entered the semifinals leading the league in offense and field goal percentage. It didn’t seem so when San Miguel’s hounds buckled down to business.

In Games 2 and 3, San Miguel’s bench provided a huge lift. The relievers scored 43 to Talk ‘N’ Text’s 17 in Game 2 and 45 to 27 in Game 3. Uichico tried to address the issue by making Jayson Castro and Washington come off the bench in Game 4. Castro and Washington started in the first three encounters. Alas, Castro and Washington combined for only 10 points in the clincher.

Cabagnot’s return to the San Miguel lineup was an awesome blessing for Austria. Since his arrival from Globalport, the Beermen are unbeaten and Cabagnot has averaged close to 15 points. The Crunchman is a fit in Austria’s system. He’s a perfect distributor and facilitator in the motion game. When the passing lanes are clogged, Cabagnot has the ability to create and fashion his own shot. If the defense collapses on Cabagnot, he knows how to extricate, too, and find open teammates.

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Five San Miguel hitmen scored in twin digits in Game 4. Aside from Fajardo, Cabagnot netted 16, Lutz 15, Santos 13 and Ronald Tubid 11. Beyond the scoring stats, Austria had to be pleased with how the Beermen covered for each other on defense. They had 28 turnovers but never gave up in recovering. Still, San Miguel’s high turnover rate against Talk ‘N’ Text is a cause for concern in the Finals because both Rain Or Shine and Alaska are tough pressure-playing defensive teams.

San Miguel hasn’t won an All-Filipino title since 2001 under Uichico and the Beermen have been absent from the throne the last 12 conferences of this variety. It’s been a long drought. Moving to the Finals, momentum is clearly on San Miguel’s side what with a sweep of Talk ‘N’ Text. There have been only seven blanks in a PBA best-of-seven series ever so Austria’s feat is historic. For the record, the PBA has completed 100 best-of-seven series since its inception in 1975. Once the Alaska-Rain Or Shine tie is settled, it will be the 101st completed best-of-seven affair.

Another milestone for San Miguel is it’s the first time the Beermen topped the eliminations of an All-Filipino conference in the last 20 years. Austria has never won a PBA championship so if the Beermen go all the way, it’ll be a first for the former Lyceum guard who said he owes his coaching career to Ron Jacobs. Austria was plucked out of the Masagana 99 club to play for the Philippine team that captured the Asian Youth title in 1982 under Jacobs. One of Austria’s teammates was Uichico whom he faced in the Talk ‘N’ Text series.