MANILA: Siot Tanquingcen described his San Miguel crew as lacking in sharpness.
He actually had kinder words to say about Coca-Cola, the squad his Beermen just beat.
San Miguel almost lost a 10-point lead in the final 69 seconds last night before scuttling the Tigers, 89-86, for a piece of the lead after the first round of eliminations of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“I’m happy that we’re tied for the lead,” Tanquingcen said when asked to evaluate the first round performance of his powerhouse roster. “But there are still a lot more we could do to improve.
“I mean, we’re winning games.
But we haven’t been very sharp, like tonight,” the bespectacled coach added.
“We’re not doing the things we’re trying to accomplish and I am thankful that we’ve won.”
The Beermen needed nine fourth quarter points from Mick Pennisi and two clutch free throws in the final 16.8 seconds from Jay Washington to pound out the win, rise to 7-2 overall, and gain a piece of the lead with Alaska.
Coca-Cola lost for the second straight night and third in five games with Kenneth Duremdes as coach, as the Tigers dropped to 3-6 and out of the picture if the playoffs would start today.
But Tanquingcen believes that the future is bright for the Tigers, a team that is also teeming with talent but has so far not gotten everything together.
Talk ’N Text snapped a string of three straight losses, doing it with conviction by rallying from a 20-point deficit in the first half and pulling away in the third for a 103-90 victory over Barangay Ginebra.
The Tropang Texters erased a 36-16 second quarter deficit by running at every given opportunity, and the undermanned Gin Kings simply could not keep up as Talk ’N Text rose to 4-5.
Mark Cardona scored 32 points, Don Allado had 17 and three others turned in twin digits for coach Chot Reyes, who also was not fully impressed at the way his team played — and won.
“Even with this win, I felt that we just played 36 good minutes,” Reyes told Arab News.
“We need to play a solid 48 minutes for us to be able to play with the big boys like San Miguel, Alaska, etc.”
Ginebra, which was still without key players Junthy Valenzuela, Rafi Reavis and gunslinger Mark Caguioa, dropped to 3-6 in the company of the Tigers.
The Kings were led by the 17 points of Ronald Tubid and the 16 of Jun-Jun Cabatu. Jay-Jay Helterbrand was held to just 15 points.
“I told the boys that it’s going to be harder and harder to beat Coke,” Tanquingcen said.
“The same thing happened to me four years ago with Ginebra. It took us quite a long time to adjust to each other.
“But believe me, Coke has the tools and it will be just a matter of time.”
Tanquingcen’s cause for concern about not being sharp has been the inconsistent play that has hounded his team of late.
San Miguel trailed by 11 points in two instances in the first half before gathering enough steam to erect an 86-76 lead with 1:09 left after baskets from Pennisi and Washington.
But that formidable lead almost vanished, as Alex Cabagnot scored the Tigers’ final seven points that had them coming to within two going into the final 17.9 before Washington bailed the Beermen out with those two free throws.
Before last night, the Beermen, the league’s winningest team, were dragged into two overtimes by Air21, a victory which has been disputed in the form of a protest and which Express management has threatened to take all the way to the Games and Amusements Board.
Air21 team manager Lito Alvarez said Tuesday that he will appeal commissioner Renauld Barrios’ decision to throw out Air21’s protest, one which he felt stood on solid ground since replays showed that they could have won against the Beermen in the first extension.
Alvarez said that if the board, which could vote two-third to reverse Barrios, does not heed his appeal, he will go to an outside agency, the GAB in this case, to resolve the matter.
