THE San Miguel Beermen will now leave behind an unforgettable quarterfinal series with the Converge Fiber Xers and get ready for a different kind of semifinal series against the Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings.
Beermen coach Jorge Gallent said this after San Miguel Beer, led by eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo led the Beermen to an exciting 109-105 triumph over Converge on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
This allowed the Beermen to finish the best-of-five quarterfinals series in the 49th Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup with a 3-2 record and earn their second straight semis appearance.
“That’s why we could not relax against them. It’s a pesky, young team. We had a hard time on defense and everything. So against Ginebra, we just have to play well. It’s a well-coached team. It has great players. We just have to play well, bring our ‘A’ game,” said Gallent.
The SMB coach said Converge proved to be a hard team to deal with when the FiberXers took Games 3 and 4, with players like import Jalen Jones, Alec Stockton and Justin Arana leading their assault.
Even Fajardo could not help but praise the FiberXers for their big effort.
“Malakas ang Converge. Hindi puwedeng basta-bastang balewalain,” said Fajardo, who finished with 40 points and 20 rebounds.
San Miguel Beer will meet Barangay Ginebra at the start of their best-of-7 semis affair on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena.
