By REYNALD MAGALLON
Although his team remains the only undefeated team so far in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup, San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent still sees a lot of room for improvement particularly on the defensive end following the Beermen’s great 95-92 escape over the Barangay Ginebra Kings.
Against a formidable team and legitimate title contender in Ginebra, Gallent saw the contest as a good gauge on how far his team is in terms of reaching its peak form for their title defense and bid for a season double.
“‘Yung gauge nitong game na ito is very good for us. I know we shot the ball and we defended well especially in the end part,” said Gallent, although pointing out that there’s still a lot to be desired with its defense specifically in transition.
As expected, Beermen’s mighty offense was in full display as they built a lead that went up to as high as 18 points in the final frame but the teamallowed Ginebra to climb back into the contest behind its transition game, highlighted by a booming LA Tenorio stop-and-pop trey that cut the lead down to just four, 88-84.
The Beermen regained footing and tightened up their defensive screws anew, completing a crucial defensive stop with 44 seconds left to slam the door on the Kings comeback.
“We just had to play good defense in the end. We had to stop them in the last 2 to 3 minutes,” said Gallent
“We were taking hurried shots again when we were up by 18 and they took advantage of that when we were missing our layups. They were running and they were hitting big three-point shots in transition. In case we miss, we just have to do a better job sprinting back and defending,” he added.
Gallent particularly lauded big man June Mar Fajardo who anchored SMB’s defensive stand despite getting into foul trouble. He was able to deny the initial pick-and-roll play between Maverick Ahanmisi and Christian Standhardinger resulting in a turnover for Ginebra.
“When we were up by four, there were 44 seconds left . We knew that they were gonna go to the pick-and-roll and we told June Mar to be ready for that. He accepted the challenge and did a great job,” the veteran coach said of the Beermen’s excellent defensive play.
With its defense exposed by Ginebra, Gallent expects SMB to learn its lesson and improve further heading into the second half of its elimination schedule.
“What’s good about this team, when we play games, we try to improve, try to get better on things that we have to get better on. These four games, it’s just our transition defense that was not that good but it’s getting there. We just have to practice more and see what happens,” he added.
