SMB seeks to sustain aggression vs Phoenix
Credit to Author: JOSEF T. RAMOS, TMT| Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2019 16:16:24 +0000
Defending champion San Miguel Beer shoots for a 2-0 lead when it takes on Phoenix Pulse in Game 2 of their best-of-seven semifinals series in Season 44 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup tonight at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen soundly beat the Fuel Masters, 100-88, in Game 1 on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City behind Alex Cabagnot’s 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds output.
“Not yet, they (Phoenix) have a lot of energy, and I know they will bounce back in the next game,” said San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria. “We have to continue fighting. This game only showed that we can beat them.”
Five-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, who had a subpar performance of nine points and nine rebounds before fouling out in Game 1, expects the series to become more physical.
“This is not going to be easy. Of course this is the playoffs and we should not expect an easy game,” said Fajardo in Filipino.
Though they managed to smother Fajardo’s scoring, the Fuel Masters failed to foil San Miguel Beer’s three-point shooting. SMB connected 18-of-47 attempts from the three-point zone while Phoenix posted just 10 triples.
“We focused so much on Fajardo while neglecting their perimeter players who shoot from the outside. Now I have a bigger task of preparing against June Mar and their perimeter players,”said Phoenix coach Louie Alas in Filipino.
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