There’s no denying that the three-point shot is a huge weapon in the modern basketball game. That is especially true with the San Miguel Beermen with snipers like Marcio Lassiter, CJay Perez, and Juami Tiongson up and down the roster. Unfortunately for the Beermen, that trey ball deserted them in Game 3 as they shot just 3-for-28 from downtown for a ghastly 10.7% clip as they lost to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and fell to a 2-1 series deficit.
But, in Game 4, San Miguel’s outside sniping was on point, and it powered the Beermen to a 107-82 blowout of Ginebra to level their PBA Philippine Cup semis series at two games apiece. The difference, according to San Miguel coach Leo Austria was that his wards were too relaxed in Game 3 after dominating Ginebra, 100-83, in Game2.
“A little bit of complacence,” Austria pointed out postgame on why San Miguel’s three-point shooting in Game 3 was so terrible. “Second game, we beat them by 17 points, and usually, that’s the natural habit ng player, masyado relaxed. I’m also a player before, once you relax, most probably your shot will not get in.”
San Miguel Learns Its Lesson, Goes Supernova in Game 4
It turns out, the Beermen learn their lesson rather quickly. Leaning on those hours upon hours of practice and a palpable sense of urgency to not fall into a 3-1 hole, San Miguel’s snipers certainly came alive in Game 4, going 14-28 from downtown as opposed to Ginebra’s 6-for-26.
“Every day we have a lot of shooting drills, shooting practice for them to get a rhythm, and I’m so happy tonight dahil 50% from the three-point area, unlike na 10% in the last game,” added Austria, who also credited his team’s balanced effort that saw six Beermen score in double-digits led by CJay Perez’s 19 and Juami Tiongson’s 14 for the starters and the 12 and 11 markers fired by Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano, respectively, off the San Miguel bench.
Now, coming off another dominant showing, Austria can only hope that his wards don’t relax again the way they did in Game 3. Otherwise, that red-hot shooting might go cold again in an all-important Game 5.
San Miguel fans are hoping their team has truly learned its lesson.
