Beermen, Painters shoot for two-to-nil

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer and Rain or Shine have the momentum but expect Burger King and Barangay Ginebra to come up with key adjustments as they try to even things up in the Final Four of the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference Final Four at the Astrodome today.

Both coaches Siot Tanquingcen of SMB and Caloy Garcia of Rain or Shine are confident their teams can make it two in a row with high level of energy and enthusiasm in a pair of Game Twos in the best-of-seven semis series.

The Beermen hardly showed ill effects of a long layoff in walloping the Whoppers, 102-87, while the Painters played with a big heart to stun the fancied Kings, 101-95, Wednesday.

“The key for us in Game Two is to be ready on Burger King’s fightback. Knowing coach Yeng (Guiao) with his experience, he’s going to get his team ready for the next game,” said Tanquingcen.

“You don’t win the series in the first game. Maybe they (the Kings) were rusty in Game One. We have to rely on hard work and on helping each other if we’re to repeat in Game Two,” said Garcia.

Reviewing game tapes yesterday, the coaching staff of Burger King and Ginebra said they have spotted their respective teams’ weakness and are now ready to get even today.

“In a series as long as this, the key is making adjustments. Judging from what I’ve seen, I know what adjustments have to be done,” said Guiao.

“There’s actually no pressure on us whether we lose by a big margin. We just have to make the series and the games close. The pressure will tell on them. If they survive the pressure, so be it,” said Guiao.

Guiao added they’re having a big problem matching up with San Miguel’s big frontline.

“The problem is when Mick (Pennisi) and (Jay) Washington play at the same time. Shawn Daniels has to guard either one of them, and no one is left to man the inside,” said Guiao.

For the Kings, offensive collapse at endgame caused their downfall.

They led by as many as 14 points early in the third quarter only to sputter in the stretch, enabling the Painters to pull through in the franchise’s first-ever semifinal appearance.

The Kings blew the game away by scoring only two free throws in the last five minutes of play.

“We lost again Sol Mercado and Ryan Arana to injury but we hung in there, relying on hard work specially on defense in the second half,” Garcia said.

Mercado played only a few minutes in the first half as he still felt pain on his left hamstring. Arana, on the other hand, sustained a suspected fractured hand.

“Minus the two, we still believe we can win the series if the guys help each other out in the game,” said Garcia.– Nelson Beltran