URGENT NEED
SAN Mig Coffee has lived to fight another day against Rain or Shine in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal duel. As far as coach Tim Cone is concerned, nothing has changed for his team.
“We just have to stay focused and committed to the task at hand,” said Cone on the eve of his Mixers’ rematch with the Elasto Painters in the resumption of their series Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
By virtue of a 79-67 victory last Saturday San Mig whittled its deficit in the best-of-seven series to 2-3.
Cone knows it is going to be a tough game once again since the fire in his charges have been stoked, but so did that in the E-Painters .
“We know Rain or Shine is going to play a better game this time around, so we’ll have to play at a much higher level as well,” stated Cone.
Rain or Shine counterpart Yeng Guiao said the respite is a very welcome one. “The four-day break gave us a good chance to regain our focus and correct the mistakes of our last game,” he said. “The key is to sustain our energy and keep the defensive pressure.”
In their Governors Cup title duel last season, Rain or Shine also posted a 3-1 series lead over the same team then known as B-Meg but still needed seven games to cop its first-ever crown.
Guiao knows things may be drastically different this time around should a deciding match be forced.
“Our attitude is to finish the series tomorrow or face dire consequences,” said Guiao. “Yes, we are still leading the series but it is always good to have that sense of urgency.”
Cone wants the same from his team, but he has this gnawing feeling borne of a recent experience. His Mixers absorbed a 72-98 blowout loss following a four-day break from a 106-82 win in Game Two. Then came a 74-83 loss in Game Four that put them in a 1-3 hole.
“We didn’t handle it well when we went to Game Three from a break,” acknowledged Cone. “We’ll try to do it differently and do better this time.”
There are also key players from both teams needing to rebound in a big way.
Foul-plagued James Yap scored only two points for San Mig and off-form Jeff Chan just three for Rain or Shine their last time out.
Good thing for the Mixers the likes of Joe Devance, Marc Pingris, PJ Simon and Mark Barroca all stepped up and atoned for Yap’s dismal performance and virtually none for the E-Painters.
That gave Cone reason to be more upbeat. “They beat us twice in a row, I believe we can win twice in a row,” he said. (NC)
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