WELL-PLACED MOTIVATIONS
Spoiling TNT’s bid to complete a historic Grand Slam isn’t the only thing San Miguel Beer will be fighting for when the two proud flagship franchises in the PBA square off in the Philippine Cup Finals.
“They want to win the Grand Slam, while we want to redeem ourselves,” Rodney Brondial said in Filipino after being one of the reasons why the Beermen were able to come back and beat Barangay Ginebra in the Game 7 decider of their semifinal series.
Behind Brondial, fellow ex-Adamson mainstays Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz, veteran Chris Ross, and of course June Mar Fajardo, the Beermen roared back from an 11-point deficit to pull out a 100-93 win on Wednesday that sent San Miguel closer to finishing its redemption tour the right way.
That has been the theme for the Beermen this season following not just the heartbreaking Finals loss to Meralco in the 2024 edition of the all-Filipino, but also a shock playoff absence last conference in the Commissioner’s Cup.
“They always say that the all-Filipino is San Miguel’s conference, and we came up short the last time,” Brondial said. “So we are really eager to redeem ourselves.
“That’s why I believe our team and TNT have something to fight for, which makes it a good series.”
Game 1 is set on Sunday at the Big Dome, as the Beermen get some time to rest and recover, especially Fajardo, who endured despite a nagging hamstring injury to register 21 points and 19 rebounds in the rubber match.
It’s fair to say that healthy or not, Fajardo could very well make or break the San Miguel campaign.
Especially since the 6-foot-11 cornerstone sees TNT will try to run them to the ground.
“It’s gonna be tough because TNT plays a running game,” said Fajardo. “But we’re gonna make sure that we will be ready.”
It will be important for San Miguel if its depth can once more play a pivotal role like in Game 7, when Ross played with vintage brilliance on both ends while the trio of Cruz, Brondial and Trollano joined Fajardo in turning the tables on Ginebra before a crowd of 12,279.
That quintet wasn’t San Miguel’s famed “Death Five” of past Leo Austria teams, but it was efficient in handing Ginebra another playoff heartbreak.
“If somebody plays well, they will stay longer on the court,” said Austria, who kept CJ Perez on the bench for majority of the payoff period because his lesser light players were delivering.
“They (Cruz, Trollano and Brondial) were playing well and I let them play,” Austria added. “And they were able to show what they are capable of.”
Mo Tautuaa also had his share in the first half as San Miguel bucked a nine-point deficit to take a 45-44 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, Ginebra could only lament on what went wrong despite solid shooting led by Jamie Malonzo, RJ Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson.
And for the second straight season and for seven conferences in a row now, the Gin Kings won’t have a championship trophy to hoist.
“We had the game under control,” Malonzo said. “We had a lot of crucial turnovers and they were able to take advantage. It’s really a disappointment.”
