Ato Agustin refused to count Barangay Ginebra out. Jay Washington, the hardworking San Miguel forward, agreed with his coach.

“The series isn’t over yet. We got two more games to win,” offered Washington, who teamed up
with Dondon Hontiveros Friday in SMB’s 108-102 victory that gave the Beermen a 2-0 lead against the Kings in their PBA Philippine Cup semi-final series.

Later, Agustin revealed telling his troops during a team huddle before Game 2 that another victory against the Kings will be the turning point of the series and their key to the Finals.

Yet given SMB’s comfortable lead, Agustin is not anticipating the series to end anytime soon
acknowledging that the Kings are more dangerous when their backs are against the wall.

“Di naming iniisip yun,” cautioned Agustin when asked about the possibility of a sweep.
“We’re taking one game at a time. Right now we’re just focused on Sunday’s game and not
looking to sweep the series on Wednesday.”

Game three of the best-of-seven series is set at 6:30 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ginebra coach Jong Uichico admits they’re having a tough time matching up with SMB, particularly with its height advantage.

“But we’ve been here before. It’s nothing new. We just have to work a bit more,” said
Uichico, adding Game 3 is a must win.

Washington, who has been steady offensively in Games 1 and 2, said they displayed a great team effort in Game 2 and everyone realized the importance of the game.

“Its fun being part of something like that … when you look around and see all your guys
fighting,” Washington said.

The top pick of the 2005 Annual Draft doesn’t discount the potential of SMB completing a
four-game sweep in the event the Beermen emerge victorious Sunday.

“If we can get Sunday’s game to go up 3-0 it will pretty much take the fight out of them
[Kings],” Washington said.

“That’s what we have to know going into the game. We can’t relax. We just have to keep
playing hard and keep doing what we talk about in practice and stick to our game plan which is play defense.”

Washington emphasized SMB bench depth by saying anybody in their roster can light up the scoreboard it doesn’t matter who has the ball.

“As long as we play defense as a team we’re good,” he said. (DBC)