SAN Miguel Beer and NorthPort end their PBA Philippine Cup elimination round campaign Sunday with each aiming to achieve their respective goals at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
At 2-8 and long out of the running for a quarterfinals slot, the Batang Pier are merely looking to end the season on a bright note.
The stakes are much higher for the 7-3 Beermen.
An SMB win would give it an 8-3 record and assure it of the No. 1 spot going into the quarterfinals notwithstanding the result of the Barangay Ginebra-Rain or Shine match later in the evening.
In such a scenario, the Beermen wound wind up the eliminations tied with NLEX, Magnolia and, possibly the Gin Kings, at 8-3 but the former would still claim topnotcher honors due to a higher quotient.
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A relegation to No. 3 and a win-once advantage over the sixth-ranked squad await SMB should it lose and wind up in a tie at 7-4 with Ginebra, Converge and Rain or Shine.
At worst, a Beermen loss followed by the Gin Kings' win over the Elasto Painters would even relegate the former to a 7-4 record and a tie with recent tormentor Converge. The former would then drop to No. 5 with a twice-to-win handicap against the dangerous FiberXers.
Main reason why SMB coach Leo Austria has been repeatedly exhorting his players to draw on their championship pedigree and do all they can to pull off a win in a match they should treat as already the start of the playoffs.
"Kailangan 'yung sense of urgency nila kasi 'pag talagang may sense of urgency sila hindi magpapatalo iyan, eh. They have to bear in mind na this is a very, very important game," said Austria.
"Parang against NorthPort start na ng best-of-three namin. Pag nanalo kami, isa na lang to get to the semifinals. Pag natalo kami we have to win two in a row," added Austria.
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The pressure of securing a top four slot would have been lesser had SMB not dropped a 97-100 heartbreaker to Converge just last Wednesday in a game where the Beermen overcame an 18-point deficit but blew a nine-point fourth quarter lead.
"Last game lessons learned kasi bad start kami then kaya naman pala naming humabol. Breaks of the game lang sa dulo pero hindi dapat umabot doon," noted Austria.
"Games like that at saka 'yung pressure given na iyan. Kaya nga sabi ko sense of urgency dahil every possession is very important in this league," Austria also said.
Such lapses, and complacency, must be avoided against NorthPort which has just pulled off a 113-108 upset of NLEX, stressed Austria.
"Don't underestimate our opponent and we have to control their transition offense dahil they keep on running simply because mas maliit sila kaysa sa amin. The only way they can beat us is by trying to outrun us," was how Austria bared their approach to the game.
"Usually, 'yung transition points nila come from turnovers and bad shot selection. So if we execute well, hindi sila makakatakbo."(NC)
