SMBeermen, Hotshots fire opening salvo

MANILA, Philippines — Five-peat-shooting San Miguel Beer is determined to further cement its status as the gold standard in the PBA Philippine Cup. Magnolia is motivated to find a pot of gold at the end of a campaign filled with struggles and test of character.

With these underlying motivations, the history-chasing Beermen and the gritty Hotshots fire the opening salvo in an explosive best-of-seven championship dispute – a rematch of their 2018 entanglement that SMB won in five games to seal a four-peat.

“I hope we’ll get the same result but it’s not going to be easy,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria ahead of the 7 p.m. finals opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Magnolia has gained a lot of experience especially winning a championship last conference (2018 Governors’ Cup) and now they’re in the finals again, and this is their third time already. They’ve improved skills-wise and become more experienced so for me this is a 50/50 series,” Austria added, shrugging off the team’s tag as the favorite.

For the Hotshots, exacting revenge on their old conqueror will simply be a sweetener if they triumph in the season-opening tournament, where they overcame a 0-3 start to make it to the middle of the pack in the Last Eight, a 0-1 deficit in the best-of-three quarterfinal showdown with Barangay Ginebra, and a 0-2 disadvantage in the race-to-four semis duel with tough No. 2 Rain or Shine.

“We’re not really looking at it as payback but of course, our goal is to win the championship. Nothing personal but this is our chance,” said Victolero, looking to bank once more on his wards’ tough character. “Nobody expected us to be here after starting 0-3 and losing Game One to Ginebra and going 0-2 against Rain or Shine. But the team’s grit and resiliency brought us this far.”

From their 2018 conquest, SMB loaded up with the addition of Christian Standhardinger and Terrence Romeo.

“These two can help the team but I don’t think there’s any advantage,” downplayed Austria. “Like I’ve said, only five are playing at a time and Magnolia itself can come up with a good five-man combo.”

Magnolia big man Ian Sangalang, who’s up for a major match-up with SMB star June Mar Fajardo, said the Hotshots will keep the faith against the mighty champs.

“This is where our mantra ‘we believe’ will come in. As long as we continue to believe in ourselves, perhaps we’ll have a chance of winning the championship,” said Sangalang.

Aside from its five-peat dream, San Miguel is driven by a desire to make up for its botched bid in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup, the last time it reached the finals. SMB blew a 2-0 lead to yield the title to Ginebra. 

“I told the guys after the loss to Ginebra to remember the feeling so that the next time we get to the championship, we’ll remember the feeling and play harder to get back and win another one,” said SMB ace Chris Ross.

Austria and Victolero both emphasized the importance of taking the head start in the series that could turn into a protracted battle.

“It’s no guarantee but it will be advantageous if you take Game One and dictate the tempo of the series,” said Austria.

“It will be better if you get the head start like what happened in the Governors’ Cup where we won the first two games against Alaska and eventually won the series,” said Victolero.