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| While San Miguel had to sacrifice their Lenten holidays for practice, this is also an opportunity for them to further teach Justin Patton their system. Peter Baltazar (file photo) |
MANILA--Everyone at San Miguel would have loved spending the Lenten holidays with their families, as they would have also taken the time to reflect on the blessings God provided for them while remembering His sacrifice on the cross.
However, "sacrifice" is also the battle cry for the team right now ahead of a big-time Easter Sunday game against Ginebra.
Coach Leo Austria said that the Beermen had to schedule practices during the entire weekend holiday period before the crucial encounter against the Gin Kings.
"(On Wednesday), we will be having a break, and then we will practice on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in preparation para sa Ginebra game," Austria said.
He added that since this is SMB's usual practice schedule before the game, they really have to set aside whatever they already planned to do for the Holy Week.
"That's the usual thing na ginagawa namin, kaya ang hinihiling ko sa mga players: sacrifice. This is Holy Week, so a lot of sacrifices ang ginagawa ng mga tao," Austria further said.
The team has been up and down four games into the PBA Commissioner's Cup, opening the conference with a shock loss to Titan Ultra that saw original import Marcus Lee held to only four points.
The Beermen bounced back with a tight win against the Converge FiberXers, but they were later obliterated by the TNT Tropang 5G in a game where June Mar Fajardo bled for his points inside against towering import Bol Bol, especially in the first half.
Despite Lee finally exploding for SMB against TNT, the Beermen still decided to pull the plug on him for now and recruit Justin Patton as their new import.
Patton, despite only practicing for a few days, made a good account of himself in his debut against Macau on Tuesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, scoring 24 points, 17 rebounds, two assists, one block, and three steals in a 110-94 win.
For CJ Perez, who led the Beermen with 26 points, three rebounds, five assists, and one steal, the holiday work is an opportunity for Patton to further immerse to their system as another Justin, Mr. Brownlee, awaits them on the day also known as "Resurrection Sunday".
"Medyo nawawala pa siya (kahapon), pero I think mas marami pa naman kaming araw na magpa-practice. So mas magiging familiar siya sa system ni coach Leo," Perez said, adding that he was impressed at Patton's performance despite being with the team for less than a week.
A much-improved Patton would be of great help as SMB looks to finally notch back-to-back wins in this conference.
