Triple match point

San Miguel Beer is a win away from advancing to the PBA Philippine Cup Finals but coach Leo Austria isn’t counting his chickens before they’re hatched. In tennis, San Miguel would be in a triple match point situation meaning the Beermen enjoy three chances to clinch.

Talk ‘N’ Text is in a deep hole and to advance to the Finals, must survive four do-or-die games. It takes four wins to wrap up a best-of-seven series and right now, San Miguel is up, 3-0. The Texters, however, are far from raising the white flag. They’re a proud bunch and coach Jong Uichico will take every opportunity to remind his players that for as long as the Beermen haven’t notched win No. 4, the Tropa is still alive.

The duel has been a battle of the ages. There’s obviously bad blood between the teams. They’re the flagship franchises of the San Miguel and MVP Groups so the rivalry goes beyond the hardcourt. In Game 1, three flagrant-1 fouls were called. After Game 2, Uichico went public in castigating the referees and PBA vice chairman Robert Non of San Miguel took exception to the tirade. A word war ensued, further fueling the fire of a fierce series. In Game 3, action was high-intensity and the winning margin was just a point.

For Talk ‘N’ Text, the consolation is the margin of difference has been on the decline and if the trend continues, there might just be a Game 5. San Miguel took Game 1, 109-86, Game 2, 87-81 and Game 3, 96-95. So the gap has gone down from 23 to 6 to 1. Clearly, Game 3 could’ve gone either way and the Texters had the final possession that with a conversion, would’ve avoided the 0-3 predicament. But Ranidel de Ocampo’s fadeaway off Arwind Santos fell short, allowing the Beermen to escape with a hairline victory.

The San Miguel franchise hasn’t captured an All-Filipino crown since Uichico piloted the Beermen to the title over Barangay Ginebra in 2001. That’s a drought of 14 years and 12 straight All-Filipino conferences. Besides, San Miguel hasn’t won a title of any variety since Ato Agustin took the franchise, then carrying the Petron colors, to the Governors Cup throne in 2010-11. That’s a championship wait of nine straight conferences. If there’s any team that’s due, it’s got to be San Miguel.

Austria, in his first year as San Miguel head coach, steered the Beermen to the top of the eliminations with a 9-2 record, the first time the franchise gained pole position in the All-Filipino conference in 20 years. But he’s not resting on his laurels. The job is far from finished. Austria knows that leaving the door open for a Talk ‘N’ Text comeback is a risky proposition. The Tropa is a deadly offensive squad, capable of breaking a game open with its potent firepower at any time if you drop your guard.

Like Austria, Uichico is in his first year as head coach with Talk ‘N’ Text. Uichico is gunning for his ninth PBA title while the Texters are hoping to book a 17th Finals appearance and second in the last three conferences.  Talk ‘N’ Text has captured four of the last six All-Filipino titles so there’s a championship tradition to uphold.

Before the start of the series, it was clear where the battle lines were drawn. Talk ‘N’ Text was No. 1 in the league in offense with a 96.15 clip while San Miguel was No. 1 in defense, allowing only 77.82 an outing. Talk ‘N’ Text was also No. 1 in field goal percentage (43.6), three-point field goal percentage (37.3) and free throw percentage (72.7). San Miguel was No. 1 in field goal percentage allowed (38.1), three-point field goal percentage allowed (24.6) and assists allowed (15.8).

In Game 1, San Miguel held the Texters to a field goal percentage of 33, three-point field goal percentage of 24 and only 13 assists. The Beermen were dominant in registering more rebounds, 56-39, more turnover points, 19-5, more assists, 26-13 and more second chance points, 12-7. JuneMar Fajardo had 23 points and 10 rebounds while Santos hit 21. De Ocampo finished with 20 points but Jayson Castro shot only a quiet six.

In Game 2, the Tropa upped its field goal percentage to 40 but lost it at the free throw line. The Texters converted only 12-of-24 from the line and were outscored from the stripe by 13. Castro rebounded with 26 points and nine assists but San Miguel’s bench was just unstoppable, scoring 43 points to the Tropa’s 17.

In Game 3, the Texters continued to struggle from the line, hitting only 46 percent and missing 14 of 26. The Tropa knocked down 15 triples but the bench failed to deliver once more as the San Miguel relievers won the scoring battle, 45-27. Game 3 was Talk ‘N’ Text’s fifth outing in the last 11 days while it was only San Miguel’s third in the last 14 days. The wear and tear could be a factor down the stretch.

Austria has exploited Talk ‘N’ Text’s gaping hole in the middle with Fajardo lording it over in the interior. Rico Maierhofer’s emergence with 10 points in Game 3 was a result of Austria’s focus of attack. Without a natural center, the Texters are hard-pressed to contain San Miguel’s bigs. Playing Fajardo and Santos on the strong side has reaped dividends for the Beermen with the Tropa finding it difficult to mess up their teamwork. Alex Cabagnot’s arrival as a stabilizer and crunch-time performer couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

For Talk ‘N’ Text, the key is to focus on just Game 4 and not bother with the thought of winning four in a row.  There were positive signs in Game 3 as the Tropa had more turnover points, 19-10, more three-point hits, 15-9 and more fastbreak points, 9-4. Now, it’s a matter of building on those positives to create a winning situation in Game 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena tonight.