MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria said yesterday despite a slow start, there’s still a possibility to finish the PBA Governors Cup single-round eliminations in the top four with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals but it will depend on the results of the team’s last four games against TNT, NorthPort, Rain Or Shine and Meralco in that order.
Last Friday, San Miguel crushed Phoenix, 117-100, to raise its record to 3-4, snapping a three-game losing skid. At the moment, the Beermen are No. 8 in the standings. If they sweep their next four outings, a top four finish wouldn’t be remote. “We’ll rely on the outcome of the games involving other teams,” said Austria. “If we don’t make it to the top four, we’ll try to end up No. 5 or No. 6 so we avoid facing No. 1 or No. 2. Actually, our goal right now is just to enter the playoffs. If we finish from No. 5 to No. 8, we’ll treat the quarterfinals like a best-of-three where we’re down 0-1.”
Austria said injured center JuneMar Fajardo will be reevaluated by doctors this weekend to determine the progress of healing the stress fracture in his right shin. “From his last X-Ray, the crack was nearly sealed,” he said. “JuneMar wants to play but we told him to be patient, that if he rushes things and he’s not ready, it could endanger his career. If the X-Ray shows good progress, he’ll probably be able to play at least one game before the playoffs. Our last game in the eliminations is against Meralco on Nov. 3. Right now, he can’t bear weight. To practice shooting, he has to sit down. He’s doing strengthening, core exercises and cardio work. Still no playing basketball.”
While Fajardo remains sidelined, Austria said the other Beermen are back in the pink. “We struggled at the start of the conference,” he said. “Our import A. Z. Reid hurt his ankle. We couldn’t wait for the injury to heal so we looked for a replacement. A. Z. understood our situation. It would’ve been unfair to us if we kept him even in his condition. We brought in Kevin Murphy who’s a different player from A. Z. Kevin can play one, two and three while A. Z. is basically a three or four. Kevin’s more of a perimeter player and it showed against Phoenix when he shot 7-of-14 threes and 1-of-12 two-pointers. Kevin’s coachable and very observant. He’ll do whatever he’s asked to do, no complaints. He adjusts easily to conditions.”
Austria said the tide is turning for San Miguel. “Initially, we could only get seven to eight players for practice,” he said. “Billy (Mamaril), Yancy (De Ocampo) and Arwind (Santos) weren’t 100 percent. Marcio (Lassiter) came down with sore eyes. Alex (Cabagnot) got sick. Of course, JuneMar was out. But against Phoenix, our chemistry was back, offensively and defensively. It’s different if you’re not 100 percent. You can’t focus because you’re careful not to aggravate whatever is bothering you. The win over Phoenix was big. It showed our focus was back, that our guys are ready to win again. Phoenix was coming off a win over NLEX where (Eugene) Phelps had 51 points two days before so they had to be a little tired.”
Murphy, 28, is averaging 36 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 42.7 minutes in three games so far, hitting 50 percent from beyond the arc and 43.8 percent from two-point range. The former Utah Jazz guard is playing three for San Miguel with Christian Standhardinger at five, Santos and Kelly Nabong alternating at four, Lassiter at two and Chris Ross and Cabagnot rotating at one.