The San Miguel Beermen is scheduled for a head-to-head game against the GlobalPort Batang Pier at 4:30 P.M. on June 13, 2018 live from the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Beermen will attempt to break the .500 mark in their standings and make a four-game winning streak while the Batang Pier are looking to heal their back-to-back losses when 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup resumes in Pasay.
Maybe it’s now safe to say that San Miguel is one of the strongest contender this import-laden conference after they found the right chemistry playing along with their import, Renaldo Balkman.
Now that they’ve won three-game straight, coach Leo Austria has created a new challenge for himself as the defending champion will try to climb-up to the standings and finish as top two teams when the elimination round ended.
“Okay lang na mangarap, na buhay pa kami for a top two slot,” explained Austria. “Pero we need to stay in the moment, kung ano muna nasa harapan namin.”
However, it seems the missing piece of that chemistry is their 2017 top draft pick rookie Christian Standhardinger. The Beermen only won one game playing with the Fil-German, this might be one of the reasons that coach Austria might sideline Standhardinger in their tonight’s game. Austria probably don’t want to mess up what they have built while Standhardinger preparing himself for the 2018 FIBA 3X3 World Cup.
“We have played two games na wala siya and we have prepared for the eventuality na hindi pa rin siya maglalaro bukas, but we’re ready,” offered the coach.
GlobalPort is currently in the borderline of the top eight teams. It is expected that coach Pido Jarencio squad will show-up strong only to defend or improve their present position considering that the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is also started to pile wins.
With their run-and-gun type of game, coach Austria needs to adjust the flow of their game in order to keep pace with GlobalPort guards lead by Stanley Pringle.
“Their guards in (Stanley) Pringle and (Nico) Elorde are playing really well, they have very capable big men in (Mo) Tautuaa and (Kelly) Nabong and (Sean) Anthony is also playing great, said Austria.
“And they also have their import (Malcolm White),” the SMB coach added.