Bench mob key as Beermen seek close-out win
On the heels of June Mar Fajardo’s struggles in the previous two games, Mo Tautuaa came up with a big performance to highlight an all-around contribution that put San Miguel Beer on the cusp of a PBA Philippine Cup Finals rematch with TNT.
“June Mar is definitely our catalyst in our offense, defense, whatever,” Tautuaa said after his 18-point, nine-rebound output that helped the Beermen to a 115-109 win over Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in their semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“But it’s not just gonna be him out there; there’s another four guys out and we all gotta play together,” added Tautuaa as the Beermen hope to close out the crowd favorites in Friday’s Game 6 at the same venue.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
Bounce back
A victory will send the defending champion into a second-straight championship tussle with the Tropang 5G for the most prestigious competition of the PBA season.
But for that to happen, Tautuaa and the Beermen will look to have almost everyone, if not all, deliver if they don’t want to give the dangerous Gin Kings another lifeline.
In San Miguel’s three wins, the likes of Tautuaa, Jeron Teng and Don Trollano have delivered, as have veterans Chris Ross and Jericho Cruz, even if Fajardo’s offensive production has been mixed due to his shoulder injury.
Fajardo bounced back from scoring a combined 15 points in Games 3 and 4 by posting 21 points on top of 11 rebounds in Game 5. He was ably supported by Tautuaa, who made sure coach Leo Austria’s decision to place him in the starting lineup was justified.
“There were a lot of players who stepped up, especially on defense,” said Austria. “And we were able to stop their bench (Ginebra) from scoring heavily and limiting their production.”
And Tautuaa feels that if the second unit should again be a crucial factor for San Miguel.
“I really feel like it puts a lot of pressure on coach because he doesn’t know who to play, like, Don stepped up [in Game 3], Jeron stepped up in [Game 2] and there’s only one way to figure that out and you gotta feel the guys,” Tautuaa said.
“So I know that coach does have a hard job making sure he plays the players who are there that showed up. A lot of respect for him, he’s got a hard job. We’re winning, so we just gotta keep trusting him,” he added.
Groin injury
As San Miguel’s shocktroopers delivered, Ginebra’s own had an off night, with the likes of Norbert Torres, Jayson David and Ralph Cu not as impactful as they were in Games 1 and 4, both victories for the Gin Kings.
Ginebra sorely missed Troy Rosario due to a groin injury, leaving them without another big on the floor.
“It wasn’t our night,” lamented coach Tim Cone, though praising his team for almost snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Ginebra fell behind by 17 in the fourth, but was able to cut the gap to two on RJ Abarrientos’ triple.
But Fajardo nailed two freebies after retaining possession when CJ Perez muffed two previous tries from the charity stripe to make it a four-point game, before San Miguel forced Ginebra to a turnover on the ensuing play.
“I don’t know if we’re relaxing or if they’re desperate, but they did something to get back in the game,” said Ross. “We just had to weather the storm.”
