Beermen, Elite try to bolster playoff bids

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San Miguel Beer and Blackwater, among the Top Four through the first half of the elims, pursue their playoff aspirations as they face off at the resumption of the PBA Philippine Cup at the MOA Arena in Pasay
City Friday.

The Beermen (5-1) try to bolster their front-running position while the Elite (4-3) seek to sustain their breakthrough run as they collide at 7 p.m.

San Miguel, the reigning all-Filipino back-to-back titlist, may be without injury-hit point guard Alex Cabagnot but the Beermen remain a formidable lot and set out as the odds-on pick versus the Elite.

Blackwater coach Leo Isaac said they will have one less problem if Alex Cabagnot won’t really be able to play because of a fractured nose. “But that’s only one player. We still have to worry about the other players in that strong team,” said Isaac.

efore the holiday break, the Beermen have picked a good rhythm, showing lethal form in their 104-80 demolition of the NLEX Road Warriors and in their 101-86 walloping of the Meralco Bolts.

“We’re no longer groping for form. The guys already understand our defensive scheme. They’re now helping one another. Defense was the biggest key in our early breakaway against Meralco. And If we’ll be
able to sustain that, then we’ll have a good shot at the Top Two,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

Both teams have tried their best to stay in shape during the break. SMB took a two-day break on Dec. 31 and Nov. 1 while Blackwater rested for three days starting Dec. 30.

“Nag-break kami ng three days pero sumingit ng kanya-kanyang ensayo ang mga players. Parang hindi nag-break. They’re in shape and they’re all upbeat,” said Isaac. “Kapag nasamahan ng konting swerte, baka
maganda ang resulta ng laro namin.”

With a couple of back-to-back triumphs in their first seven outings, the Elite stand at joint fourth place with the Phoenix Fuel Masters at 4-3. The expansion ball club has reached a number of milestones, including opening a tourney with back-to-back wins, becoming a league leader and racking up more than three wins in a conference.

A little dampener was a 93-97 loss to Mahindra in their Christmas Day showdown at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan where the Elite blew away a 15-point lead early in the fourth.

Then they now play an SMB team that seems to be peaking at the right time.

“We struggled badly in our first four games, winning three all coming from behind. We’re only able to dish out the kind of game we want to play in our last two games,” Austria said.

Austria feels the Top Two battle could be among the Beermen, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, the TNT KaTropa Texters and the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the end.

Blackwater goes through a killer stretch of four games against highly formidable opponents to close out its elims stint, taking on San Miguel Beer, Alaska Milk, Barangay Ginebra and Star.

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