No one felt the pain of losing the opener of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals more than San Miguel Beer’s injured shooter Marcio Lassiter.
Forced to sit out Sunday’s Game 1 from the sidelines due to a left MCL sprain, Lassiter watched helplessly as the Beermen absorbed a sound beating at the hands of TNT KaTropa with a 109-96 loss at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The result may have been more painful for Lassiter than the injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the conference and possibly the FIBA World Cup for Gilas Pilipinas later this month.
“Definitely it’s super tough,” Lassiter said. “Me personally, I don’t like sitting out games but to come in here in a very important game for all of us and not be able to help my brothers out, it definitely hurts me a lot.”
It was Lassiter’s first public appearance since July 24 when he had an awkward fall after blocking Garvo Lanete’s layup in San Miguel’s quarterfinal win over NorthPort.
SMB persevered amid Lassiter’s absence, beating NorthPort in that match before surviving a stubborn Rain or Shine in the semifinals to arrange a title showdown with TNT.
But the Beermen’s lack of offensive production highlighted by import Chris McCullough and June Mar Fajardo accounting for more than half of the team’s scoring output, coupled with defensive miscues against TNT’s crisp ball movement made Lassiter’s absence more important.
“I know I can’t really do nothing about it,” he said. “I got to stay positive and definitely wish I can be out there and help my teammates. But they know I’m here supporting them.”
Lassiter can only hope that SMB can replicate the group’s greatest title triumph — the famous 0-3 comeback against Alaska in the Philippine Cup when the Beermen missed Fajardo for the first four games before making history.
“Kinda reminds me of when our teammates were hurt. I think the last one in the Finals was June Mar and whenever that happens, I feel like our teammates stepped up and played even harder.
“So, I know we gonna play a lot harder knowing that guys are down. I really feel like we can rise to the occasion and we got a lot of players ready to step up,” he added.
“I’m pretty sure Game 2’s gonna be a lot different.” (JONAS TERRADO)
