FACING a powerhouse team like San Miguel Beer is a menacing prospect for most, but not Terrafirma.
In fact, the Dyip aim to defy the overwhelming odds when they meet the Beermen Saturday and at least prolong their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals duel at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
After emerging as the top seed from the 11-game eliminations, SMB needs only to win once to advance to the best-of-seven semifinals against the winner of the TNT-Rain or Shine quarterfinals matchup.
What should make the Beermen more tenacious this time around is the fact they also want to bounce back big time from a 92-95 loss to Meralco last Saturday that denied coach Jorge Gallent and his charges an 11-game sweep of the eliminations.
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For its part, Terrafirma had to go through NorthPort last Wednesday just to make it to the last eight, a target the franchise hasn't hit in the previous 16 conferences or since landing fifth in the 2016 Governors Cup before getting swept by Meralco in the QF.
Coach Johnedel Cardel knows it would be a herculean task for his Dyip, but believes they are up to the challenge. "Mahirap, they're all superstars. Fifteen players, kahit sino ipasok ni coach Jorge doon talagang mag-ko-contribute," he said, referring to the Beermen.
"But for us... bilog naman bola. Basta mga players ko, they really want to play in the quarterfinals even though talagang dumaan kami sa butas ng karayom," added Cardel, also coaching in his first quarterfinals.
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"Ganoon pa rin, dadaan pa rin kami sa butas ng karayom. Pero gagawin namin lahat para lang maka-isa kami. Who knows? Bahala na. God's will. Kung saan kami talaga, doon kami," Cardel also offered.
"Going to that twice-to-beat San Miguel (game) I know it's going to be very hard, but we'll try our best. Watch the film, kung saan kami p'wedeng maka-advantage sa San Miguel. Going against San Miguel is a big experience para sa team."
Terrafirma's confidence is also boosted by the knowledge it could go toe-to-toe with SMB as evidenced by their lone elims meeting last April 10, when the Beermen eked out a 113-110 decision but only when Mo Tautuaa erupted for 17 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.
"I think it's gonna be a good series. You guys know na we lost by only three points noong previous game. Actually, we were leading, sa dulo lang kami nag-collapse," Dyip guard Javi Gomez de Liano pointed out.
"So we just need to watch the film again and review what we could do better in terms of playing San Miguel. We're not intimidated, we just have to do our part, play our best. We have to bring out our best game (when) playing San Miguel," added De Liano. (NC)
