TAKING Game 1 will be important for the San Miguel Beermen in 48th Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup finals.
Having 11 days of rest has gotten the Beermen pumped up for action against the Meralco Bolts, who are on their first ever finals appearance.
“Game 1 is important for every team. We just gotta have to start strong, win Game 1 and see what happens,” said Beermen coach Jorge Gallent, two days before the start of their best-of-seven finals affair at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday the Araneta Coliseum.
Gallent and Bolts’ coach Luigi Trillo talked about their insights on the finals on Monday during a pre-game press conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Center, Pasig.
The Beermen, who have advanced to their 11th finals’ appearance in the Philippine Cup (all-Filipino tournament) had almost two weeks to get ready for the finals, after they won four straight games in their semis series with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
In their last finals appearance at the 2022-2023 Philippine Cup, the Beermen emerged victorious with their 4-3 win-loss record against Talk ‘N Text.
For the Bolts, they went through a lot of difficulties against the Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings, whom they beat 78-69 last Friday to barge into the All-Filipino finals for the first time.
“When San Miguel was undefeated for 10 games, you could read that they’re already in. But, that’s the past, and we’ve been through a lot,” said Trillo.
“We respect them but at the same time, we believe in our guys. I personally believe that we have enough. It’s not going to be easy,” added Trillo.
In all, the Beermen are celebrating their 37th finals appearance (as SMB) ever since they won the 1982 invitationals.
The Beermen will be led by CJ Perez and Don Trollano, with their averages of 21.27 points and 5.45 rebounds, and 13.27 points and 5.45 boards.
The Bolts can count on Chris Newsome and Allein Maliksi in their game, with the former norming 15.36 points and the latter chipping 13.64 points per game.
