Having just won the 2025 PBA Philippine Cup, expectations for the San Miguel Beermen will certainly be sky-high. In fact, it’s probably championship-or-bust for the defending champs who boast the indomitable June Mar Fajardo, the ageless backcourt duo of Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross, the uber-talented CJay Perez, and the Martilyo Boys of Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano, and Mo Tautuaa.
That’s a deep, talented core for sure—a championship-winning core. But Leo Austria remains wary, in part because heavy is the head that bears the crown, which means San Miguel will have to fend off hungry challengers looking to dethrone the reigning Philippine Cup champs.
“Lahat ng kanilang mga mata nasa amin. Alam nila nasa summit kami at kailangan nilang sungkitin ito,” said the nine-time champion coach during San Miguel’s turn in the league’s annual media day. “This will be a difficult season for us because everybody is trying to beat us.”
Despite having that big bullseye on San Miguel’s back, Austria is nonetheless confident that his Beermen will rise to the challenge.
TNT, Ginebra, Converge Among Biggest Threats to Beermen
If the San Miguel Beermen are to defend their Philippine Cup title and make a big run in Season 50, they certainly won’t have a lack of legit challengers. Foremost among them would be the TNT Tropang 5G, who took the Beermen to six games in the last Philippine Cup Finals despite losing several key players to injury. The Tropa have also retained their own championship core and added Kevin Ferrer and Tyrus Hill to an already talented roster.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, who twice finished runners-up in Season 49 and battled San Miguel in the Philippine Cup semis, should also be a threat to the Beermen after retaining their own talented core led by Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar. The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, meanwhile, could be a dark horse after adding super-scorer Stanley Pringle and possibly getting back a healthy Luis Villegas.
The Converge FiberXers and Magnolia Hotshots are right there in the conversation, too, after pulling off major moves this offseason. Converge, for its part, added the explosive Juan Gomez de Liaño and big man bruiser Larry Muyang to a core four of Justin Arana, Justine Baltazar, Schonny Winston, and Alec Stockton. Magnolia, on the other hand, traded for sweet-shooting wing Javi Gomez de Liaño and re-signed their own key free agents.
Needless to say, Leo Austria is right. San Miguel will have no shortage of challengers, and winning another ‘chip will be a lot harder in Season 50.
