My neck hurts. San Miguel players can relate. They felt they were watching tennis during Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals. So did I. Each time a Tropang Texter passed the ball, the Beermen had to look right, then after another quick pass, look left, then another pass, and another, non-stop looking both ways, non-stop movement all-night. You know how your eyes dart left to right, right to left, over and over while following a rally between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, that's how it felt. If today, San Miguel head coach Ato Agustin is rubbing his neck, he must've been scratching his head in Game 2. He saw how Talk 'N Text spread the floor, stretched his team's defense the way a rubber band is stretched to the brink. Stretch it too far and it'll...snap! It did. When San Miguel allows Ranidel de Ocampo to go coast-to-coast for a 3-point-play lay-up, successfully making him appear faster than the wind (I'm sure Kuya Yancy was equally amazed), Agustin knows there's a problem.
After two games, the San Miguel-Talk 'N Text match-up resembles PS1 vs PS3 or iPhone vs iPhone 3GS. They're both awesome, impressively-assembled teams. One is just a faster, more potent version of the other. So far. Agustin has tweaked his strategy using SMB Version 1.0 (a.k.a the Denok Miranda-Joseph Yeo experiment) and SMB Version 2.0 (the Olsen-Racela-and-2-Dannys reboot). Neither configuration worked.
I understand why Agustin is perplexed. For San Miguel, speeding things up is almost Hara-Kiri. But it probably sounds easier (Paul Artadi is already smiling). Because slowing Talk 'N Text down, while more logical given San Miguel's personnel, is still the elusive alternative. Each time San Miguel steps on the brake pedal, when they appear to comply with the new speed limit along Commonwealth Avenue, Talk 'N Text simply pulls away. The fourth quarter of Game 1 is exhibit A. The third quarter of Game 2 is exhibit B.
Still, there are good signs for San Miguel. At least we know Alex Cabagnot can string together points even with two TNT defenders pulling his long hair. At least we know Sunday Salvacion, who failed to take a single shot in Game 1, is not prohibited from taking 3-point attempts. It's important that San Miguel, just when it felt Talk 'N Text seemed ready to break-away, kept it close in the third quarter. It's also important they made one last push in the last 5 minutes of Game 2.
So mighty San Miguel is down 2-love. The Beermen still know they can compete. That they're not prone to losing by 20 points to an international-style-kickout-passing-run-and-gun team. Agustin still has time (about 18 hours) to find the configuration which will finally work. He knows he can't afford to have a strained neck and an overwhelmed team yet again.
Mico Halili, GMA News TV
