His body language couldn’t hide it. Clearly, San Miguel coach Ato Agustin was not happy with their showing in Game 3.

The Beermen turned from amazing to mediocre on Sunday although the SMB coach maintains that situation is not cause for worry.

With their back against the wall, the Barangay Ginebra Kings showed some character in Game 3 and routed the mighty Beermen, 95-78.

SMB still leads their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series, 2-1, but the Kings gained some momentum and confidence in their bid to hopefully bring the series back to square one.

Its not losing that disappoints Agustin though. It’s the attitude his troops displayed toward the
game that upsets him.

“We were too relaxed. We didn’t match their energy,” said Agustin in describing his team’s
inexplicable loss of focus.

The SMB coach also noted their 10 free throw attempts and their 29 3-point attempts to emphasize their lack of aggressiveness.

The Beermen practically sleepwalked in Game 3, allowing Willie Miller (19 points) and Mark Caguioa (17 points, 12 rebounds) to have a field day.

They managed to pull within nine points late in the third quarter but hibernated again in the
fourth and eventually lost grip of the game.

After dominating Games 1 and 2, some observers readily predicted a sweep by SMB, which is trying to end a nine-year title drought in the all-Filipino tournament. So could it be a case of
overconfidence?

“I don’t know,” Agustin replied.

But he’s pretty sure their downfall in Game 3 will serve his troops in good stead. It’s like a
wake up call, he said.

“Dapat maramdaman din naming yun (defeat). Para malaman ng mga players na hindi biro-biro ang semifinals lalo na kapag Ginebra ang kalaban mo,” Agustin said.