Beermen at the crossroads

It isn’t only the PBA Commissioner’s Cup that San Miguel Beer is concerned about. There’s also EASL where the Beermen and Meralco are representing the PBA.

After San Miguel won the Commissioner’s Cup under coach Jorge Gallent last season, the Beermen lost to Meralco in the Philippine Cup Finals then bowed to Barangay Ginebra in the Governors’ Cup semis. In the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup, San Miguel got off to a 1-2 start, prompting a switch in coaching roles from Gallent to Leo Austria. In EASL, Austria will attempt to reverse a downtrend after the Beermen lost back-to-back games to Suwon and Taoyuan. Tonight, San Miguel will take on Hong Kong Eastern in a critical encounter at the Southorn Stadium, Causeway Bay. Both are in the Group A cellar with identical 0-2 records so it’s a virtual battle for survival. Another loss by either squad will leave only two games left and once one more team notches at least three wins, it’s the end of the road. The top two placers in each five-team group will advance to the Final Four. As it is, Taoyuan is No. 1 in Group A at 3-0.

Since EJ Anosike’s departure for a job in Belgium, San Miguel brought in Torren Jones to team up with Quincy Miller in EASL. Miller was San Miguel’s original import in the Commissioner’s Cup and Jones took his spot in the last two outings, both wins for the Beermen.

Jones, 30, was dismissed twice from D1 schools for violating team rules. He was kicked out of the University of Missouri after the 2013-14 season and also got the pink slip from Fresno State at the end of the 2015-16 campaign. In between schools, he averaged 18.3 points in 29 games for Midland Junior College. From Fresno State, Jones jumped to William Penn University, a D1 NAIA school where he hit at a 20.4 clip, shooting .313 from three and .750 from the line. That marked his exit from the collegiate ranks. He went on to play in the UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Libya, Dominican Republic and Mexico before landing in the PBA. His single-game highs include 40 points, 23 rebounds and six assists.

Miller, 32, played in 13 games for Converge in the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup and one for TNT in the next Commissioner’s Cup. The 6-9 forward was Denver’s second round pick in the 2012 NBA draft and played for the Nuggets, Sacramento and Detroit in three seasons, averaging 5.3 points in 69 total games, including 16 starts. Miller saw action in only one collegiate season, averaging 10.6 points for Baylor University in 2011-12. That campaign, Baylor zoomed to a 17-0 start and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. Miller has played on championship teams in the ABA (Eastern Europe league), Israel and Serbia. He went to four different high schools and in the pros, his teammates included Kentavious Caldwell Pope, DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, Evan Fournier and Andre Igoudala.

San Miguel will submit an 11-man roster for the Eastern game tonight. Jericho Cruz will serve a one-game suspension so Austria’s lineup will be missing a key piece. Juami Tiongson will also sit out the game recovering from a groin strain but should be back in uniform when the Beermen engage Eastern in the PBA at PhilSports Arena on Sunday.