THE RENAISSANCE (BEER)MAN
Comparing the start of the conference to now, San Miguel Beer sure has changed a lot.
From having their heads bowed after two consecutive defeats, the Beermen are now all smiles after racking up six straight Ws.
Also, gone are the talks of Marcio Lassiter being traded elsewhere as the sweet-shooting guard has proven that he still deserves his spot among his peers in San Miguel Beer.
And the Beermen probably don’t need the services of an Asian import anymore the way Lassiter and a couple more of his teammates have stepped up in the streak.
In the Beermen’s latest win, a 96-92 victory against NLEX, Lassiter lit up the scoreboards with his 21 points on an 8-of-15 shooting from the field.
The former Smart Gilas member, who averaged just 8.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in the Commissioner’s Cup, credits the whole team for their ascent.
“Just playing as a team, that’s what we did today,” he said. “We made sure that share the ball together and that’s what we did.
“We knew some of the shots didn’t fall in the first half, but if we continue playing right way with what we’re doing, the shots are eventually gonna fall. We continued to play our game and in the second half, the shots went in,” he added.
Nailing its sixth win in eight games, San Miguel has now virtually assured itself of a spot in the playoffs. But Lassiter knows that this is not the end of the Beermen’s journey.
“Six wins is great but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to be the champion. We know it’s too early, but if we continue to play this way, we’re on a good path,” he said.
And Lassiter, who’s averaging 14.5 points on a sizzling 48% from three-point range, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal this conference, zeroed in on the pressing concerns the team still needs to address.
“We know we made some mistakes (Friday). We committed 11 turnovers in the first half, but we buckled down in the second half and only made two turnovers,” Lassiter said. “There’s still a lot of room to improve on.” (RL)
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