Kings face must-win in Game 4
San Miguel Beer ’ s June Mar Fajardo is expected to use tonight’s Game 4 as platform to show he’s the league’s best and woe to the team standing on the way.
Fajardo is a cinch to claim another Best Player of the Conference award, and the Beermen will surely ride on his performance against Barangay Ginebra which needs to level the series or fall to a 1-3 deficit in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
SMB coach Leo Austria said grabbing a 2-1 lead in their bestof-seven series is no big deal but the Gin Kings can’t afford to let them move farther up in a series that has become a war of attrition between two sister teams. Game time is at 7 p.m. “Two-one is not a safe lead, but they can’t let us get the 3-1 lead,” said Austria ahead of Game Four tipped to draw another huge crowd at the Big Dome.
“It’s not impossible to rally from 1-3 down. We’ve done that, and we wouldn’t want that (a reversal) to happen to us,” added Austria.
The Beermen moved within two wins of an all-Filipino threepeat after pulling off a 99- 88 triumph in Game Three on a fiery 12-0 windup.
Before Game Four, Fajardo is expected to take the spotlight as the hands- down winner of the BPC award. But he’ll be the marked man for the Gin Kings out to level the series that has heated up following verbal skirmishes among key individuals of the two teams the last time out.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who confronted Chris Ross shortly after Game Three for firing a trey when the outcome has already been settled, admits they’re in a must-win situation, stressing they need to dish out their A-1 game to draw level with the Beermen.
“We need our A-plus game. A- minus is not good enough to beat San Miguel,” said Cone. “This team is so good with so many weapons. We’ll keep plugging away and hopefully get Game Four.”
Cone said the key is to be disciplined and focused in executing their game plan – the very thing they did in carving out their classic 124-118 overtime win in Game Two Sunday.
The Kings did just that majority of Game Three but lost steam in the face of the Beermen’s fiery finish.
“We played the game we wanted to. We liked the tempo we’re playing. Our second group played very well. But down the stretch, we couldn’t execute on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively,” rued Cone.
“We didn’t execute well, didn’t get the shots we needed to get, and that’s the function of execution. We like down-thestretch basketball but we didn’t do the things we normally do down the stretch. They just beat us out down the stretch,” Cone pointed out.
“They hit their shots, got the ball to June Mar, and June Mar made the right passes. We came down the floor, took some shots and didn’t do our offense, but kind of played hero basketball. That’s what happens if you don’t execute,” Cone added.
An extra frontcourt play may well help the Gin Kings but Jervy Cruz, with a shoulder injury, remains doubtful for Game Four or even Game Five.
“Obviously, we lack an extra big guy,” said Cone, playing small ball (with a small, quick lineup) in an effort to counter SMB’s game anchored on Fajardo.