Beermen's 'change of mentality' leads to demolition of Blackwater
MANILA, Philippines ?— The San Miguel Beermen made no mistake of their quarterfinals series in the PBA Philippine Cup against the eighth-seeded Blackwater Bossing as they demolished their opponents, 123-93, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
With the way the Beermen thrashed the Bossing, it would've been quite difficult to remember that the latter had actually come close to beating the former in the eliminations when they met last July 10.
In overtime, the Beermen barely escaped, 110-107.
After their victory on Wednesday, SMB coach Leo Austria explained that it was the sheer weight of what a win against Blackwater would mean here in the postseason of the conference.
Rather than just one more win in the column, the win was a ticket closer to the Philippine Cup crown.
"It's a different situation right now, that is eliminations and we were on top of the standings at that time. And this is quarterfinals. So, a win is automatically, you'll be in the semifinals and they are well motivated," he said, referring to his players.
"They know the glory of winning a quarterfinals, going to the semifinals and of course, best-of-seven, you still have a lot of time to adjust and to plan, unlike if it's a knockout game na no tomorrow. So wala kang time mag-adjust. This time, we'll treat every game just as our last game because our goal to get into the finals and eventually win a championship," he added.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for SMB, in a game where they led by as much as 39 points.
Seven players also finished in double-digit scoring for Austria to flex their dominance over the field.
But the multi-titled coach was wary of they next step in their quest for Philippine Cup glory.
As they await the winner between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco, Austria remained cautious.
"But it's not easy because there's a lot of top teams in the quarterfinals or semifinals. But for getting for the semifinals right away, I think it will be a fortunate for that because we can figure out what's next for us," he said.
On Friday, July 29, at the FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan, Meralco will aim for the closeout against Ginebra to forge the semis battle with SMB, while the Gin Kings will fight to force a rubber match.
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