PHILIPPINE Cup champions San Miguel Beermen is not worried they have a twice-to-win disadvantage over the NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.
Beermen veteran June Mar Fajardo said even if their backs are against the wall, he is confident they can easily hurdle their opponents to keep their Grand Slam bid alive.
“Pareho lang. Kailangan lang namin manalo ng dalawang beses,” Fajardo said. “Malaki ‘yung kaibahan ng best-of-three sa twice-to-win disadvantage. Di pa naman huli ang lahat. Basta maglaro lang kami ng maayos.”
Added the Gilas Pilipinas center: “Basta gagalingan na lang namin. Kahit sino ang makalaban namin, ibibigay namin ang best namin. Kailangan namin pag-igihan. Di pa naman kami out. Nasa playoffs pa kami. ‘Di pa kami laglag. Mataas naman ‘yung kumpyansa namin. Kaya naman namin, tiwala lang sa team, at tiwala lang sa sistema. Positive lang.”
The
Beermen fell to seventh spot in the standings at the end of the elimination
round following their shocking 95-91 defeat in the hands of the Meralco Bolts
on Wednesday night.
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After their strong showing in the previous conference, Centro Escolar University Scorpions emerged as frontrunner to romp away with the title in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup starting July 25.
The Scorpions will have all eyes on them following a remarkable campaign in the season-opening conference that saw them finish runner-ups behind champion Cignal-Ateneo Blue Eagles despite making do with just an eighth-man roster.
Scorpions assistant coach Gabby Velasco admitted the last conference was a huge learning experience for them.
“The seven or six players from last conference would still be there, but the rest manggagaling sa training team namin while the others are from our recent tryouts. So this is going to be a totally different team,” said Velasco.
CEU is one of six school-based teams seeing action in the meet that will run until October aside from AMA Titans, TIP Engineers, BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare, Nailtalk-St. Dominic Savio, and McDavid-La Salle Araneta University.
The rest are comprised of Marinerong Pilipino Skippers, iWalk Chargers, Italianos Homme Shoes, Hyperwash Laundromat Vipers, Sterishred Medical, Alberei Kings (Zamboanga), and Hazchem Inc.
The Scorpions were rocked by game-fixing controversy last conference where seven players were expelled for game-fixing infraction but still managed a runner-up finish behind the exploits of import Maodo Malick Diouf./PN
