RoS vs SMB semis battle begins
Credit to Author: JOSEF T. RAMOS, TMT| Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2019 16:20:56 +0000
Rain or Shine faces San Miguel Beer at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the other semifinals pairing of Season 44 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Elasto Painters earned the ticket to the semis after beating Blackwater, 85-83, in a do-or-die Game 3 on Wednesday.
“Of course, San Miguel Beer is always going to be a champion team. It is going to be a difficult task. We just have to figure out ways to win,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia, noting that San Miguel Beer remains a formidable team even without Marcio Lassiter.
“Even without Lassiter, they have a lot of players who can fill up the spot,” added Garcia, referring to Chris Ross, Von Pessumal, Alex Cabagnot, Ronald Tubid and Terrence Romeo.
Lassiter is expected to be out for six weeks nursing a medial collateral ligament injury.
The Beermen are also fortified by import Chris McCullough, five-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos and Christian Standhardinger.
San Miguel Beer nullified Northport’s twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals by beating them twice (98-84 and 90-88) to bag a semifinals slot.
“I don’t think it is an upset win, that’s San Miguel Beer’s. There’s no upset for San Miguel Beer. If you beat them, that’s an upset win. San Miguel Beer is a championship team. Maybe they are happy that we are their opponent because we are smaller than Blackwater,” said Garcia.
San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria said they wouldn’t underestimate Rain or Shine’s capacity to outclass them.
“Since they made it to the semifinals, that means they are deserving. They have a lot of experiences so we have to respect them,” said Austria, who commended Rain or Shine’s improvement. “Their hard work compensate everything, the intangibles, so you cannot underestimate that team.”
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