WILL Alaska finally break through or will San Miguel Beer remain alive?
Coaches Alex Compton and Leo Austria will be seeking contradicting results as the Aces and the Beermen resume their entertaining best-of-seven titular showdown in the finals of the 2015-16 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
With another crack at finally winning the All-Filipino conference championship, the Aces are hoping they can finish the job this time around, while the Beermen are looking to once again extend the series in Game 5 today at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Following a classic Game 4 last Sunday night, where San Miguel showed its championship heart to stay alive with a thrilling 110-104 come-from-behind victory in overtime against Alaska, the championship tussle goes on with the Beermen now having some momentum.
Still leading 3-1 despite a meltdown in Game 4, the Aces remain optimistic as they are still very much in control of the series and are still a game away from ending their 16-year All-Filipino title drought.
Compton hopes that his squad won’t blow away their second chance at winning the crown as he seeks adjustments from his wards.
‘’Our execution was poor in the closing moments of Game 4. We weren’t smart with the basketball. I felt some of our guys were gigil and too fired up last time,’’ said Compton. ‘’We’re hoping to address that for a different result in this next one.’’
However, that might not be the easiest thing to do especially with the stubborn Beermen now rejuvenated following that morale-boosting Game 4 victory.
Austria hopes that after that impressive Game 4 rally, momentum can finally be on San Miguel’s side.
‘’I hope ‘yung momentum napunta na sa amin,’’ he said. ‘’We really need to be ready for them (Alaska) and be prepared.’’
Even without Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo, San Miguel was able to finally list a victory in the series, thanks to the collective efforts of Marcio Lassiter, Gabby Espinas and Chris Ross.
The three San Miguel chargers came up huge in Game 4, with Lassiter scoring a game-high 26 points, while Espinas produced a monster double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds. Ross just missed a triple-double with a complete game with 11 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
With the series now in its homestretch, Compton expects things to even be tougher at this point.
‘’It’s a series for a reason,’’ said Compton. ‘’There will be adjustments left and right and we just have to keep going until our job is completely accomplished. It’ll surely be tougher.’’
Game Today
(Game 5, Finals – Smart
Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – San Miguel vs. Alaska