Struggling San Miguel Beermen battle dangerous Rain or Shine

Games on Tuesday
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
5 p.m. – Blackwater vs Eastern
7:30 p.m. – San Miguel vs Rain or Shine

SAN MIGUEL BEER’S (SMB) title retention bid in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup is off to a sloppy start and with resolute challengers waiting to pounce, the Beermen better shape up fast.

Their opening act ended in a 107-104 victory over Phoenix but it was hardly impressive as the Beermen trailed by as many as 16 points and needed a strong finishing kick to escape the blushes.

Coach Jorge Gallent’s crew then dialed it up in their second game against NLEX, seizing a 19-point lead but a major meltdown amid Robert Bolick’s fourth-quarter storm turned it into a 99-104 setback instead.

So bitter was the L that Mr. Gallent and his staff holed themselves up in the locker room for an hour post-match to discuss stuff and declined to entertain media queries.

SMB, though, has the chance to quickly pick itself up and restore order today but it has to do so with tough Rain or Shine (also with 1-1) standing in the way in the 7:30 p.m. tiff at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

The Elasto Painters have shown their capability to bring down a powerhouse with an emphatic 99-81 toppling of guest team Hong Kong (HK) Eastern last Dec. 4.

And Yeng Guiao’s troops led by Deon Thompson, Leonard Santillan, Adrian Nocum and Jhonard Clarito carry the intention of also ambushing Quincy Miller, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez and the rest of SMB while they’re still struggling to find their groove.

Meanwhile, Eastern (3-1) seeks solo third as it faces winless Blackwater (0-2) in the 5 p.m. curtain raiser.

George King and the determined Bossing are gunning for a breakthrough with fresher legs after their nine-day break. And they’re expected to be a handful for the HK cagers who are competing in the PBA, their domestic league back home and the East Asia Super League.

“Each game is tough, each game is a new challenge,” said coach Mensur Bajramovic, whose wards are fresh from a morale-boosting 105-84 rout of Governors’ Cup titlist TNT. “PBA teams have different styles of playing and for each game we need to make adjustments.”

Outside the X’s and O’s, Eastern learned the hard way how to adjust to Metro Manila’s traffic situations, too. Last time, the team took so long travelling from its Quezon City hotel that it had to do the players’ taping and dressing in the bus and headed straight to warm up upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

For this slate in San Juan City, it would take Eastern a shorter distance and travel time, though.

Notes: NLEX guard Kevin Alas returned to the Ynares Center in Antipolo last Sunday without any apprehension about playing again in the very venue where he tore an ACL thrice before. “It’s just that the Lord allowed it to happen in my life,” said Mr. Alas, who has logged only his second gig back from a year-long layoff.  “I believe that the Lord is sovereign in my life, I know it’s probably hard to hear its my third injury. I take comfort in the fact that the Lord is in control in my life.” — Olmin Leyba