San Miguel flexes might and ousts Rain or Shine

With a roster nearly at full strength and peaking at the right time, Jericho Cruz and San Miguel Beer have plenty of reasons to be confident heading into the semifinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup.

“Nabubuo na yung team, dahan-dahan, para makapagsabayan kami sa ibang team (We’re slowly getting complete, enough to compete against the other teams),” Cruz told the Inquirer after the Beermen’s 127-122 victory on Friday that ended the campaign of their quarterfinals foe, Rain or Shine, at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Staying healthy, however, is something Cruz stressed as the talented squad awaits the opponent in the best-of-five semifinals, which could be Barangay Ginebra or NorthPort, given how San Miguel has flourished since import Bennie Boatwright came in for the final stretch of the eliminations.

June Mar Fajardo has returned after being sidelined by an injury sustained midway into the preliminary round, and the Beermen are now looking like the team that was expected to be among the favorites to compete for the season’s only import-laden tournament.

“When you have June Mar and an import like Bennie, your confidence will be at an all-time high,” Cruz said in Filipino. “But the rest of the locals have to work hard as well and show that we can contribute a lot on the floor. But we [must] be healthy throughout this playoffs.”

Cruz, Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, Terrence Romeo, Jeron Teng and Fajardo were among those missing either for parts or almost the whole duration of the first phase of the Commissioner’s Cup, but have since been back to bolster San Miguel’s title bid.

Full battle gear

Simon Enciso and Rodney Brondial also showed up in full battle gear against Rain or Shine, but were not given some playing minutes by coach Jorge Gallent, while Vic Manuel, who was in street clothes, was recently activated and could be available for the semifinals.

“As professionals, they were ready in case they were called,” said Gallent.

It was the seventh straight win for the Beermen, who leaned on a torrid offensive showing in the third and led by almost 20 on their way to seeing off an Elasto Painters side that saw its ambition of progressing further after a 0-5 start derailed.

Cruz was the top local scorer with 20 points, while Boatwright had another impressive game of 41 points to lead San Miguel’s attack.

Fajardo added 13 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals and was among the six San Miguel players scoring twin digits.

Ginebra and NorthPort were playing at press time, with the Gin Kings carrying a twice-to-beat advantage and favored to arrange a semifinal date with their fellow San Miguel Corporation team.

Import Tree Treadwell posted 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in Rain or Shine’s final game of the conference.

Rain or Shine was eliminated after its six-game winning streak followed its lousy start, and will head to the Philippine Cup banking on locals like Jhonard Clarito and Andrei Caracut to pick up where they left off.