Although San Miguel boasts a 5-1 record, three of its wins could’ve easily gone the other way. The Beermen were lucky to beat Barangay Ginebra, 69-68, Alaska, 99-97 and B-Meg, 85-83. However, their decisions over Air21 and Powerade were convincing – 100-86 over the Express and 119-94 over the Tigers.

Since Ato Agustin took over from interim head coach Gee Abanilla starting in the Ginebra encounter last Oct. 17, San Miguel hasn’t lost. That’s a positive sign for the Beermen who are hoping to rebound from a third place wind-up in the previous Philippine Cup after bowing to Purefoods (now B-Meg) in the semifinals.

The key to Agustin’s magic is an uncanny ability to find ways to win. That’s a gift. In San Miguel’s last game, for instance, the Beermen were badly outrebounded by the Llamados, 54-40 and shot poorly from the field, .389 to B-Meg’s .412. But San Miguel capitalized on B-Meg’s 19 turnovers to create more possessions and scoring opportunities. It made all the difference as the Beermen hit 28-of-72 field goals, including 8-of-20 triples, and B-Meg, 28-of-68 with only 5-of-18 treys.

Alex Cabagnot sank a reverse layup in the last second to lift San Miguel to the two-point win. In the Beermen’s previous outing, Cabagnot also played hero as he sank a floater with a fraction of a second left to seal it over Alaska.

Agustin could’ve gone to San Miguel’s more prolific scorers like Dondon Hontiveros, Jay Washington or Arwind Santos for the final basket but chose to gamble on Cabagnot who thrives in pressure situations. He’s San Miguel’s primary ballhandler and distributor. Most of all, Agustin trusts in Cabagnot to deliver at crunchtime. The Atom Bomb probably sees in Cabagnot something of himself.

* * *

Meralco (2-4) is coming off an 81-66 drubbing from Powerade but the score isn’t indicative of the Bolts’ potential. MacMac Cardona notched only four points in eight inconsequential minutes, bothered by pain in his right heel reportedly due to plantar fasciitis (although an inside source said it’s because of ill-fitting shoes). Meralco’s offense is anchored on Cardona and if he’s not on target, the Bolts are in trouble.

In the Tigers game, Asi Taulava contributed only five points in 18 minutes and Bitoy Omolon went scoreless in 24 minutes with five personal fouls. Believe it or not, Pong Escobal led the Bolts in scoring with 17 points – he entered the game averaging only 4.8 – and Gabby Espinas was the only other Meralco player in twin digits with 12 in 29 minutes.

Worse, the Bolts were singlehandedly defused by Powerade’s Gary David who unloaded 31 points and was the Tigers’ only double-figure scorer. Despite the presence of Taulava and Marlou Aquino, Meralco was beaten off the boards to the tune of 44-37. A bright spot for Meralco was rookie Shawn Weinstein who delivered six points, five rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes. But neither Weinstein nor Ogie Menor could fill in Cardona’s shoes at the two-guard spot.

Against San Miguel, Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio will try to slow the game down and keep the margins as close as possible for the chance to steal a win down the stretch. That means the Bolts’ bigs must work overtime to be efficient in the half-court on both ends.

* * *

“At this point, we are searching for our own identity,” said Gregorio. “We take pride in the fact that we hold our opponents down with our defense. Unfortunately, where to get the points has become a huge challenge for us. In the absence of Mac, the problem gets even worse. We need to manufacture points from fastbreaks, second chances and free throws.

Gregorio said he’s not worried about matching up against San Miguel’s bigs, namely Washington, Mick Pennisi, Danny Ildefonso and Dorian Peña.

“I’m confident that our big guys can match up with their bigs,” he went on. “The challenge really is to match up against their incredible roster power. We will continue to find ways to be competitive despite the seeming disadvantage in power ranking. We will strive hard to have a chance to win.”

Gregorio said the prognosis is Cardona will not play tonight. “Excruciating pain in his right heel and his condition is day-to-day,” continued Gregorio. “Date of comeback is uncertain. We will miss our first and only option on offense.”

By the way, Gregorio is fondly referred to by Meralco fans as the team’s light bulb. “Meralco Bolts is the name of the team,” said a Meralco insider. “B-Boys is the ‘palayaw’ of the players. The name of the mascot is ‘Biboy Liwanag’ and the cheering group is called “Liwanag Girls.’ Ryan is the ‘bombilya.’”

With the inter-intra system, San Miguel and Meralco play each other twice as they belong to different brackets. They meet again at the Cuneta Astrodome on Dec. 3. In what is expected to be a clash of the titans, San Miguel battles Talk ‘N’ Text at the Big Dome on Nov. 17.

Joaquin Henson, Philippine Star