Game Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
6:30 p.m. – TNT KaTropa vs San Miguel
(San Miguel leads series 3-2)
San Miguel goes for jugular.
The San Miguel Beermen want nothing more than to crack cans of beers open and celebrate another championship tonight in Game 6 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals, but Arwind Santos stressed the need for a much-better start than the last time.
“Alam naman na kayang kunin pero di kami pwedeng dumeretso sa taas,” Santos said after his 27-point performance in the Beermen’s 111-102 victory over TNT KaTropa Friday. “Siguro umpisahan namin ng maganda, malakas (at) maayos yung Game 6, siguro makukuha namin yung goal namin.”
Should that be the case, San Miguel will have a better chance of finishing off TNT in tonight’s 6:30 p.m. duel at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and add a second title that will boost talks of a possible grand slam for the PBA’s most successful franchise.
But Santos and company know that pulling off a performance similar to Friday, when San Miguel rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit with a surgical-like precision showing in the second half, with the KaTropa capable of rebounding from such defeats.
“Maybe (Game 6) is a different kind of ballgame, dahil they keep on adjusting,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
“The good thing is sila nag-aadjust para sa amin and I think we have to anticipate whatever adjustment they have to make.”
Chris Ross, who bounced back from a miserable Game 4 with 10 points, 11 assists, five steals and four rebounds, said that he’s anticipating that TNT’s other players – namely Ranidel de Ocampo and Kris Rosales – would provide the offense it desperately needs like in Game 5.
De Ocampo had 19 points while Rosales finished with 16. Ross, however, said the main focus remains on frustrating TNT star Jayson Castro, whose 12 points and 12 assists went for naught after a 4-of-13 shooting.
“As long as we make it tough on Jayson – we know he’s the head of the snake – it bodes well for us. Those guys stepped up (in Game 5), but we were able to win the game,” said Ross.
Frustration grew on the TNT camp, particularly import Joshua Smith, who was fined P30,000 for calling the referees “terrible” after Game 5.