MIXERS TO BENEFIT FROM GRIND OUT WIN – PJ
Sluggish from the get-go, San Mig Coffee seemed to be well on its way to a second loss in four outings in the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup.
Falling behind GlobalPort by as much as 20, 44-24 in the second quarter, and by 17, 51-34 at the half, the Coffee Mixers were far from their deadly shape which has given them the last three PBA championships.
But as they say, better late than never, and the real San Mig Coffee soon stood up.
“I was angry at myself at halftime,” said San Mig coach Tim Cone. “I don’t think we got hard in practice and it carried over in the game. No one to point the finger at but myself.”
Peter June Simon captained an inspired third quarter, scoring 11 in the period on an efficient 4-of-7 shooting clip, as the Mixers slowly chipped away the Batang Pier’s lead.
When the deficit was trimmed to just one after three quarters, the fans inside the Big Dome knew the momentum has already shifted to the side of San Mig.
“The guys came out to bail me out,” Cone said.
Hence, the Grand Slam-seeking Coffee Mixers took their third win in four games with a 92-82 victory on Friday to force a three-way tie for second together with San Miguel Beer and Air21, before they face still undefeated Barangay Ginebra on Sunday.
Simon finished with 24 points on 10-of-20 field goal shooting, but not seen in the stat sheets is how he willed his team to get back into the game with each basket he drained.
“Pinaalala lang sa amin ni coach na sayang yung opportunity kung mananalo kami sa GlobalPort,” he said, baring that fatigue has finally took a toll on them as evidenced by San Mig’s slow start.
“Nakaramdam din kami ng pagod nung umpisa kaya buti na lang nung second half, nakakuha kami ng second wind.”
With the threat of suffering a rout at the hands of the upstart GlobalPort hanging over them, the halftime pep talk really did wonders for the squad as Cone woke up the sleeping champions within the Mixers.
“Kailangan naming mag-go hard kasi that time, down kami by 17. Dapat aggressive na agad sa second half sa offense and defense,” Simon said.
The Scoring Apostle looked at the game as some kind of a deep hole where they had to pull themselves out, and rejoiced in the sweet taste of victory after going through that struggle.
“Normally, nakikita din naman sa amin na minsan, napapagod din kami. Pero yun yung maganda, pag na-overcome mo yung pagod, napakasarap sa feeling pag nanalo ka. Ito yung nakakawala ng pagod,” he said, adding these types of games are also what Cone is looking for to test the squad’s mettle.
“Ito yung gusto ni coach na panalo kasi dito nakikita yung character ng team.”
Shifting their focus to another Manila Clasico encounter with Ginebra on Sunday, Simon said that the GlobalPort scare prepared them well.
The game likewise marks the first time the Mixerd will be up against new Kings coach Jeffrey Cariaso, who previously worked as an assistant on the San Mig bench.
“Iba din namang kalaban yung Ginebra,” he said. “Napakalaking tulong lang nito para sa game namin sa Sunday.” (RL)
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