San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent within the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—The trend of lower bottom teams of the past making a reputation for themselves has caught the eye of San Miguel after its conference-opening win within the PBA Philippine Cup.
After the Beermen’s 109-97 victory over Rain or Shine at Araneta Coliseum on Friday, coach Jorge Gallent acknowledged the continuing trend of past conference’s cellar dwellers rising to the occasion within the all-Filipino conference.
“The entire teams just stepped up. I’m sure they practiced quite a bit and ready for this conference so I’m not shocked that those teams are up there,” said Gallent.
READ: Latest PBA title sets San Miguel up for thirtieth crown
“We just can’t chill out and we just need to match their energy and if not, those teams can have an excellent probability of beating us.”
As of writing, Ginebra and the Beermen are the one and two seeds, respectively, mostly on account of having the fewest games for starting late within the tournament.
The surprise comes when one looks on the third to the eighth seeds.
Coming in at three is NLEX with a 4-1 record while Blackwater sits at 4 with a 3-1 card. Each teams did not make the playoffs last conference.
READ: PBA: With rare start, Blackwater see end to being league backwater
Northport and TNT sit at five and 6, respectively. Each squads got bounced out of the primary round within the PBACommissioner’s Cup.
Terrafirma, which for the longest time, was considered a doormat team, is within the seventh seed at 2-2 while Phoenix, which reached the semifinals a couple of months ago, is barely scraping by within the playoff picture with a 1-2 record.
Surprisingly, even long-time San Miguel gunner Marcio Lassiter wasn’t surprised with how teams are faring within the import-less tournament.
“The league is improving. The underside seeds had a month and a half of preparation in order that they’re coming out strong,” said Lassiter.
“It’s a protracted conference, they’re doing good but at the top of the day, it’s still early. Everyone has their peaks and valleys so once we face them, we’ll treat them as every other team. We’ll come out and provides our greatest efforts.”
“I do know all 11 teams want to return out and provides their A game. That’s what I’ve noticed. We’re never going to get them below par, we’re all the time going to get the most effective A+ game from all of the teams so we just need to train our minds and bodies prefer it’s a playoff game,” he added.
Lassiter finished with 17 points built on five buckets constructed from beyond the arc.
