Indonesia’s Fil-Am threat to SMB bid

MANILA, Philippines - Indonesia Warriors’ Fil-Am guard Stanley Pringle poses a major concern for San Miguel Beermen coach Leo Austria as the Filipino team tries to complete a dream season with the 2013 Asean Basketball League crown.

Pringle, who only rejoined the Warriors last April after missing majority of the season due to injury, has been a steady force for the defending champions in their playoffs campaign. 

The 6-foot-1 former cager from Penn State averaged 22 points, six rebounds, 2.67 assists and 1.5 steal per outing as the Warriors swept Westports Malaysia Dragons to reach the finals again versus SMB.

“Pringle is actually the main factor for them because he has taken over as their point guard. Everytime he’s on the court, he really dictates the tempo of the game, that’s why he’s a major concern for me; whenever he has the ball, the IQ of their team shoots up,” Austria said.

SMB’s trio of Chris Banchero, Paulo Hubalde and Jeric Fortuna are expected to take turns crowding Pringle when the league’s top two teams begin their best-of-five title rematch on Friday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

While their backcourt gets busy against Pringle and cohorts Mario Wuysang and Jerrick Cañada, the Beermen look to pounce on the inside with the likes of Asi Taulava, Brian Williams, Justin Williams and Erik Menk muscling their way against counterparts Chris Daniels, Steven Thomas and Richard Smith.

“Unlike in our semifinal series against Thailand Slammers who have a tall (7-foot-1) import in Chris Charles, our big men can match up against the big men of the Warriors. I believe we even have the slight advantage there and we have to exploit that,” said Austria.

“If you’ve noticed in our last 17 to 20 games, our big men have been our priority. I hope we continue to improve on this department because every team is scouting our big men and preparing to stop them at the post,” he added.