The San Miguel Beermen is scheduled for a head-to-head game against the Meralco Bolts at 4:30 P.M. on July 17, 2019 live from the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Beermen wanted to keep their winning streak and even extend it to four in a row while the Bolts will try to pump air to boost their chances of qualifying to the next round when the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup resumes this afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It’s the last day of the elimination round but it seems like it’s playoff time for the two teams that will collide in today’s PBA curtain-raiser.
Meralco is in a must-win situation to extend their second conference campaign. A victory for the squad of coach Norman Black will push them up to the standings and will have a knockout match against the Alaska Aces for the eighth and final spot of the quarterfinals.
For SMB on the other hand, a victory will keep them safe from a team that carries a twice-to-beat advantage.
That is the goal of coach Leo Austria while they still have the control of their final position in the post-elims.
“Kapag nag-No. 7 ka, natsambahan ka wala ka ng chance bumawi, eh,” Austria pointed out. “Kailangan talagang manalo against Meralco para nasa best-of-three kami,” he added.
Complacency from his players is one of his concerns as they enter their match. Though he already motivated his players to consider their last three games as do-or-die and it worked for them.
“Kung titingnan mo inilalaro namin, kaya naming manalo. Ang concern ko lang dito, baka mag-relax dahil alam nila (Beermen) pasok na kami dahil sa three wins namin. Iyun ang iniiwasan ko, baka isipin ng mga players dahil win or lose nasa quarterfinals na,” said caoach Austria.
“Ang sama nito, kapag ganu’n, wala sa kamay namin kapalaran namin. Kapag natalo kami, kailangan manalo ng Magnolia para mag-No. 7 kami,” he said.