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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
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05
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06
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2024
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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
05
06
2024
Two things stand in the way of the Alaska Aces taking a 2-0 lead in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals: San Miguel Beer coming up with a 24-hour solution to the pressure defense, and the Beermen reducing their over-reliance on June Mar Fajardo.
Without the two going the Beermen’s way, even with Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter redeeming themselves after a Game 1 flop, the Aces could be on their way to a big head start in the best-of-7 championship series with no relief in sight for SMB after Friday night.
Gametime is 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum where Alaska point guard Jvee Casio took another slip late in the game that proved nearly as costly as the one he got hurt from against Rain or Shine six months ago.
Leo Austria, the SMB coach, is of the belief 24 hours is enough time to sort things out with his embattled team, which blew a 22-point second quarter lead in losing the opener in overtime, 88-82, last Wednesday.
He will get the chance to prove himself right.
SMB faces a slew of problems, however, foremost of which is finding a solution to Alaska’s pressure defense which choked the life out of the Beermen’s key players and was primarily responsible for getting the Aces back into the game after falling behind by 29-7 early in the second quarter.
So effective was Alaska’s saturation drive that it netted Lassiter (3 points in 21 minutes), Alex Cabagnot (6 in 27 minutes) and Ronald Tubid (1 in 16 minutes).
Santos, the 2013 MVP, had 12 points, but he had 7 turnovers that translated into extra possessions for Alaska. He was held down to 2 points in the middle two quarters of regulation and was scoreless in overtime.
“Yung tatlo ang missing link sa’min,” said Austria, referring apparently to Santos, Lassiter and Cabagnot.
As huge a concern for the Beermen is how to free the 6-foot-10 Fajardo from the shackles of the multiple coverage thrown at him, and how to keep him fresh to dominate in the fourth quarter.
A dog-tired Fajardo (47 minutes) missed a free throw what would have restored the lead to SMB with 8.8 seconds left in regulation and under no circumstances should he be asked to go through the same ordeal.
Austria is confident the worst is over for SMB.
“Composure lang naman ang kailangan e.” he said at the post-game interview. “We had a good game plan. But because of Alaska’s defense, we executed badly and we didn’t get the ball to June Mar.”
Though proficient at putting their acts together and coming back from big first half deficits, the Aces are not likely to be as careless as they were in the opening minutes of Game 1 where they missed six of their first eight shots and were limited to 5 points after 12 minutes, a franchise matching low output for a quarter,
“We were as bad as we could be in the first quarter,” said Compton. “But they never gave up and we had contributions all around.”
Specifically, No. 5 draft pick Chris Banchero, who was untouchable for 16 points, 8 in the second quarter when the Aces ran down a 22-point SMB lead.
The riddle of Calvin Abueva, who had 22 points, on 12 of 13 free throws, with 10 rebounds, baffled the Beermen no end in the absence of a livewire on their bench who could match the former San Sebastian Stag’s incendiary spirit.
How SMB intends to prevent Abueva from setting Game 2 aflame, along with Jvee Casio and Dondon Hontiveros, who saved their best for overtime two days ago, should determine whether 24 hours is indeed enough to keep the Aces from running away with the series.
The Aces came at San Miguel from multiple directions in Game 1 that in the end Austria admitted he was clueless on what hit them.
“I really don’t know what happened to us,” said Austria after the game.
Austria referred to their 26 turnovers as a big factor in the loss.
“How can you win a championship with that many turnovers?” he said.
Austria could have been asked himself why Fajardo appeared to have no escape route designed for him once the Aces ganged up on him at the low post. Once Fajardo knocked Eric Menk down under the basket, but the 6-foot-6 Aces center got up and stood his ground the rest of the way, as with Sonny Thoss, Sam Eman, Vic Manuel and Abueva.
Santos had 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. But he rolled out the red carpet for his men and made just 5 of 14 from the floor with no free throws.
Cabagnot, brought back in a trade with GlobalPort for Sol Mercado specifically to help figure out Alaska’s pressure defense and thwart double-teaming defenses zeroing in on Fajardo, had 2 3-pointers and 5 assists but did little justice toward that cause.
He was 2 of 9 from the field without a foul shot and came out empty in two crucial possessions in the closing minute of regulation, turning the ball over in front of the SMB bench with the Beermen ahead, 73-72, and rushing a tight 3-pointer after two Alaska misses.
Lassiter shot just 1 of 6 shooting and likewise failed to step onto the foul line.
All the misadventures of SMB’s ace playmaker and top wingmen aside, however, what truly hurt the Beermen was their failure to make full use of Fajardo as the setup man for their shooters and the 47-plus minutes he was burdened with that left him completely exhausted by the time he went to the stripe for 2 free throws with 8.8 seconds to go and the Aces up, 74-73.
He made only one free throw and the game went into overtime after Chris Lutz wasted a golden opportunity and Fajardo used up the last ounce of strength he had left to deny Dondon Hontiveros a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired in regulation.
San Miguel’s obsession at attacking Alaska from the post by overtly running the offense through a well-covered Fajardo was an ill-conceived decision for which the Beermen paid for dearly.
With three defenders ganging up on the big fellow and making life miserable for him every time he got the ball, SMB often had two shooters wide open on each corner, but neither got the kick-out pass.
Fajardo managed just 14 points to go with his 17 rebounds, getting reduced to a lumbering mammoth around the time Jvee Casio and Hontiveros were slicing up the Beermen in overtime with back-to-back triples.
A little rest and less over-dependence on him would have done wonders for Fajardo at crunch time. Instead he was a spent force in the extra period, going scoreless against Alaska’s swarming coverage.
Finally, Alaska exposed what could be a most glaring weakness in San Miguel’s arsenal – its relatively feeble bench.
The Aces started without Abueva and Hontiveros, absorbing all the Beermen could dish off in the first few minutes of Game 1 without calling a timeout. At the close, however, Alaska’s second team, including Banchero, mauled its SMB counterpart, 61-20. (WJRHT)
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