By REYNALD MAGALLON
Even after three games into 2024 PBA Philippine Cup San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent proved to have plenty of aces up his sleeve and he unveiled two of those cards in Game 4 to prevent the Beermen from falling into a 1-3 hole.
Vic Manuel and Terrence Romeo.
After missing the first three games of the Finals, the two made key contributions in the Beermen’s 111-101 win to tie the series at 2-2.
The two hardly played big minutes with Romeo playing for 18 minutes and Manuel getting seven minutes both off the bench and only provided seven and eight points respectively but they gave the Beermen a lot of flexibility to match up better with the Bolts.
Romeo provided an offensive threat at the point guard position – something that was missing through the first three games with Chris Ross and Simon Enciso missing their shots.
Manuel, on the other hand, gave the Beermen a chance to keep up with the speed of the Meralco without giving up much height and heft as compared when it was Don Trollano playing at the four spot.
“I talked to Terrence and Vic if there’s a chance that I can bring you inside you play at least 110 percent and they did it today, very happy that they followed the instructions,” said Gallent.
Romeo was still nursing a calf strain injury and while he’s yet to fully recover from it decided to play through the pain in Game 4.
Manuel, on the other hand, according to Gallent, was still far from playing shape, falling ill after the semifinals series against Rain or Shine forcing him to miss pratices.
“He just decided to play kasi he really wanted to help the team. Im very happy kasi yun yung mentality nya,” Gallent said of Romeo.
“He’s just getting his breath back and it’s coming back kasi in practice he’s doing extra work and he’s getting his timing back,” the SMB coach added this time pertaining to Manuel.
Even Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo admitted that the Bolts were caught off-guard by the playing time for Manuel and Romeo, noting that it just reminded them how deep the Beermen actually are.
“If you notice San Miguel, they played with a lot of energy and they pulled two guys in. First time to see Vic Manuel and Terrence. They have depth,” Trillo said.
“They are superstars. Terrence you build a team around him, Vic you build a team around him right? That being said, we also need to do something to take them out of their sense,” he added.
