CHARACTER TEST
SOMETIMES it’s how a team plays following a sorry loss that offers a good gauge of its mettle.
Which between San Miguel Beer and NLEX can show the good stuff each is made of when they clash Saturday in a PBA Philippine Cup road game at the Mindanao Civic Center gym in the Lanao del Norte capital of Tubod.
A win is a must for both teams in the Petron Blaze-sponsored match as they want to at least stay in the upper bracket of the standings going to the halfway mark of their 11-game elimination round campaign.
There is also the dire need to avoid a second straight loss as SMB is coming off a 63-66 loss to unbeaten Alaska while NLEX absorbed a 75-90 beating from sister team Meralco also last Wednesday.
“Tomorrow’s game is very important for us. We can’t afford to relax against them because they are capable of beating any team in the PBA,” said Beermen coach Leo Austria three days after his team was held down to a season-low in points.
“I know that they want to bounce back from a loss but we are also coming off a loss that’s why I’m expecting an exciting game.”
“Facing a San Miguel Beer team coming off a loss will be a dangerous team,” countered Road Warriors chief tactician Boyet Fernandez.
“Knowing their coach I know they will come out strong tomorrow. Big test for our team but we will be ready. We have to start strong and play defense if we want to have a chance to steal this game against SMB.”
That defense, sure to be physical, will be anchored mostly on Asi Taulava and Rico Villanueva, who are sure to alternate on SMB’s June Mar Fajardo and prevent the latter from putting up his usual 16.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game.
Macmac Cardona, Jonas Villanueva, Aldrech Ramos and KG Canaleta, meanwhile, are sure to lead the Road Warriors’ offense.
Arwind Santos, Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter and Sol Mercado are the other players NLEX must watch out for among the Beermen, who will still be missing the services of the injured Doug Kramer and Rico Maierhofer.
Still, Austria is unperturbed.
“An out-of-town game is really hard to predict due to a lot of factors. But on their best game and our best game I think we have a good chance of winning,” said Austria. (NC)
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