WILL San Miguel Beer barge back to the finals or will Rain or Shine force a rubber match?
That will be answered when the Beermen and the Elasto Painters resume their intense best-of-seven semifinal war in the 2015-16 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
Game 6 is penciled at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today with San Miguel knocking on the door of the final round, while Rain or Shine is looking to prolong its life.
Having a 3-2 series lead, the Beermen aim to wrap it all up and arrange yet another duel with rival Alaska and avoid a dangerous Game 7 situation.
San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria made it clear that the defending champions have yet to finish the job and they are looking to do just that tonight.
“We have the lead, but we achieved nothing yet in this series,’’ said Austria. “We need to win another one and we’re hoping to do that. We need to play methodical.’’
After trailing 1-2 in the series, the Beermen stepped it up in the last two games to overtake the Elasto Painters as reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo continued to impose his will inside, while his supporting cast finally got going as well.
San Miguel took the crucial Game 5, 103-94, to grasp series’ upperhand last Wednesday night, with three other Beermen not named Fajardo scoring in double-figures.
The situation is simple yet daunting for Rain or Shine. It is win or go home for the Elasto Painters.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao cited his team’s lack of defensive aggression as the factor that led to their defeat in the last two games and he knows that it needs to get better if they hope to extend the series to a deciding Game 7.
“We need to play better defense overall. We lost the last two games because of our poor defense,’’ said Guiao. “San Miguel has been shooting around 50 percent in the last two games. Our offense is okay, but we cannot win without our defense. We need to address that.’’
Even if their backs are against the wall, Guiao still expressed confidence in his team, saying the series is far from over.
“We’re still very positive. We still feel we can take this series. All we need is to gain our momentum,’’ added Guiao.
The Aces are already waiting in the finals after they easily beat inexperienced GlobalPort, 4-1, in their semifinal clash.
The best-of-seven finals will start either on Sunday, if the series between San Miguel and Rain or Shine ends tonight or on Tuesday, should there be a Game 7.
Game Today
(Game 6, Semifinals, Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – San Miguel vs. Rain or Shine