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Heading into the knockout game against the Meralco Bolts, the San Miguel Brewers’ reign as Philippine Cup champions is on the line, as is their clear 10-0 slate in life and death matches during that five-year span. .
It all started in Game 7 of the 2015 Philippine Cup Finals when they beat the Alaska Aces. The following year, it took four to complete the “Beeracle career” and repeat as Philippine Cup champions.
In 2017, they were down 3-2 in the semi-final series against TNT, but June Mar Fajardo averaged around 20 points and 20 rebounds in the last two games to take them to the final where they defeated Barangay Ginebra.
The year 2018 was on wheels for the brewers. They finished on top after the knockout round and lost only two games in the full playoffs en route to their fourth consecutive Philippine Cup title. It was much more difficult the following year as they survived a knockout match against TNT in the quarterfinals and then found themselves down 3-2 in the final again against the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok. The Beermen went back to digging deep to win the last two games and continue their historic streak.
With June Mar Fajardo and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser missing from the PBA bubble, SMB lost Terrence Romeo to a shoulder injury early in the knockout round. Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross have also suffered injuries. Yet as the knockout match looms against hungry rivals in the Bolts, SMB remains a team full of self-confidence and the ability to overcome adversity.
“Honestly, when you’ve been to so many, you learn from each one because they are all different,” said Lassiter, who has been dealing with calf strain. “The experience that we gained in this race, we share with all our new teammates. All those knockout games, surviving them, it gives you composure. We know there is a sense of urgency and we need the guts to achieve a victory because we know it is not going. to be easy. None of the first 10 was easy. “
Lassiter finished with just 12 points, on 4-of-18 shooting, in his first quarterfinal game, but he knows his teammates will still rely on him to make big shots.
“Meralco is a difficult team to face but, in my opinion, we are not losers … we are champions. We have the heart of champions. We built this team from scratch and all those championships are testament to our work.” we put, “Lassiter explained.
“I trust everyone on the court to make a play or a shot for us and I know they trust me because that’s what championship teams do. There is trust in each and every one of the people. Right away, but we build That. Every person on this team is a winner, so we go into this game knowing that we need to have trust and faith in each and every one of us. “
Cabagnot has made so many big shots in the knockout games they won, including winning the game in Game 7 in the final against Magnolia last year. However, he was unable to play on Friday due to a hamstring problem.
“My hamstring is improving day by day and tomorrow I will make a decision on playing time,” said Cabagnot, who joined his team in practice on Saturday. “For me, it feels like one more game. The coach has us ready and hopefully we go 11-0.”
“People think of us as underdogs, but we know what kind of team we have, we know what kind of players we are and we are really confident for tomorrow,” added Chris Ross. “We are confident for each game. Nothing changes.”
