The difference was one basket and San Miguel Beer coach Ato Agustin knows they need to do much more than that to dispose of the Barangay Ginebra Kings.
The Beermen needed a big shot from Alex Cabagnot in the dying seconds to pull off an 86-84 victory in Game One of the best-of-seven semifinal series on Wednesday—but Agustin is hoping they won’t need another miracle shot just to get a victory.
“We were just lucky in Game One. We looked rusty out there having played only three games last December,” said Agustin, who is trying to send the Beermen to their 30th finals appearance in the league.
“We’ll just have to make adjustments, especially on their pick-and-roll at the top of the key,” the 1992 Most Valuable Player added.
The Beermen shoot for a commanding 2-0 lead in the 5 p.m. match against the Kings on Friday in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Thanks to lefty Cabagnot’s right-hand drive against Rudy Hatfield in the closing seconds, San Miguel Beer survived Ginebra’s fiery rally after leading by as many as 14 points early in the contest.
It was the third game-winner by Cabagnot in the tournament, slowly earning himself the tag as the newest best closer in the league.
“If we don’t get them on Friday, this [Game One win] is nothing,” said Cabagnot, who committed a blunder a couple of plays back before he delivered the clincher—a high-banking lay-up to escape Hatfield’s defense.
Hatfield actually turned goat in Ginebra’s heartbreaking loss as his pass to Mark Caguioa was too strong with the game tied at 84.
“Game Two is a must-win for us,” said Ginebra head coach Jong Uichico, stressing he does not want his Kings to fall into a 0-2 hole.
“It’s still far from being over. We just have to set aside our loss in Game One and focus on Game Two.”
San Miguel Beer forward Anthony Washington said the shorter the series, the better for them as the Kings would be very hard to beat in a Game Seven.
“It’s going to be a stressful series,” said Washington, who paced the Beermen with 19 points.
B-MEG Derby Ace, meanwhile, came away with an 88-87 squeaker to tie its series against Talk ’N Text at one game apiece.
The Tropang Texters had a chance to steal the game and go up 2-0 but Jimmy Alapag decided to throw a pass instead of shooting the ball, allowing James Yap to complete a steal that sealed the Texters’ doom.
“We have to take our heads out of our rear ends and put them back on our shoulders where they belong,” said Talk ’N Text coach Chot Reyes.
B-MEG Derby Ace, which is looking to be the first team since Great Taste in 1985 to defend its All-Filipino title, dropped the opener, 91-98, but came out firing in Game Two and led most of the way before Talk ’N Text unleashed the run that eventually fell short.
“The longer this series goes, the better it is for us,” said Gallent, who like Agustin is on his first year as head coach.
Joel Orellana, Business Mirror
