Beermen see long reign ahead

MANILA, Philippines — The San Miguel Beermen can’t be faulted they’ve started thinking about the prospect of another title run the moment they completed their quest to extend their reign as PBA Philippine Cup champs for a fourth season in a row Friday night.

They have a good reason to be enthusiastic about the next PBA tourney as they finally welcome to their fold top draft pick Christian Standhardinger.

The Beermen are a mighty team that is likely to be mightier with the addition of the 6-foot-8 Fil-German center/forward, a product of US college ball now completing his stint as one of the lead forces of Hong Kong Eastern team in the ABL.

“We’ll have two imports coming – one from the United States and one from Hong Kong,” said SMB coach Leo Austria to cite one big reason they could also get a crack at a successful title defense in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup that fires off on April 22.

“The team is excited to welcome Standhardinger. We’ll welcome him wholeheartedly. We know he would be of big help,” said Austria, looking forward to an addition to his group of elite players in June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter.

“Some were saying it would pose a problem. My answer is that it’s a good problem. I’m using seven to eight players in important games. With Standhardinger plus our import, I would have a bigger rotation,” the SMB coach pointed out.

Troy Gillenwater will be SMB’s temporary import while awaiting champion import Charles Rhodes. As a super dominant team in the last three years, San Miguel will chase a seventh crown in 12 conferences.

“They say we’re a powerhouse team. But talent is not enough. Attitude is also important. If our guys work hard, have a good camaraderie and good preparation, then there’s always the chance to win,” said Austria, now a six-time PBA champion coach after San Miguel Beer smothered Magnolia in their Philippine Cup title duel.

“I think there’s a great possibility of another championship. But it would be tough because all the teams are trying to build up and bringing in good imports,” Austria also said.

But the SMB coach himself cited another edge they would enjoy in the next tourneys.

“The imports could stop June Mar, but we would still have our import and Standhardinger to support the team. So we’re confident we can win a championship if given a chance,” said Austria.

The Beermen were simply dominant in their 2018 PBA Philippine Cup title run, dropping only three games in the elims and two in the playoffs on the way to annexing a fourth straight crown in the league’s premier conference.

After a heartbreaker in Game One of the championship series, the Beermen overpowered the Hotshots in the next two games, won a grind-out battle in Game Four (84-80) then pulled off a comeback to remember to clinch the series, 108-99, in double-overtime Sunday.

After falling behind by 23 points in the third quarter, the Beermen could have opted to just go through the motion and just be ready for the next game.

But the Beermen refused to lose and refused to let the Hotshots live to play another game.

“We didn’t want the series to be extended. The momentum would shift to them in the next game, and they would have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We didn’t want that to happen,” said Austria.

“When we caught up, we realized it’s still possible to end the series, and the guys made it happen,” Austria added.

Austria deflected the credit to his stars.

“June Mar was tired and he already wanted to take a vacation. And you could see in his face he wanted the series to end right there,” said Austria.

“Arwind and Marcio were already feeling onset of cramps. I was asking them if they wanted to be relieved. They said ‘no, let us continue to play.’ They showed their attitude as a competitor,” Austria also said.