THERE’S nothing like a good old-fashioned hard-nosed work ethic.

Take it from coach Siot Tanquingcen, whose San Miguel Beer team shed off some of its offensive inclinations and went back to the basics to bring down Purefoods 88-76 last Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in their KFC-PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at the Araneta Coliseum.

"The main thing was the effort we put in and our commitment to defense was a little bit more than before," said Tanquingcen after their big rebound from an 84-103 loss in Game 2 of the best-of-seven duel just two days before.

"We can’t just come in and think we can shoot and win the game," Tanquingcen added. "We must come back to basics, which is defense."

In suffering their worst loss since a 100-129 drubbing from Talk N Text in their semis opener last year, the Beermen shot just 39 percent from the field to Purefoods’ 49.4, got outrebounded 44-51 and got beaten in both fastbreak points (16-8) and second chance points (2-15) by the Giants.

Last Sunday, SMB emerged with a 45.3-36.6 advantage in field shooting percentage, limited Purefoods to a 2-for-23 three-point clip and had a 50-38 dominance of the boards. The Beermen also made eight of 29 tries from beyond the arc.

Tanquingcen credited the turnaround to his team being once bitten and now twice shy.

"May kasabihan na kapag nagkamali ka ng isang beses, medyo okay pa kung ulitin mo. Pero sana kami hindi. We must continue to play hard against this team because they’re very capable," he stated.

Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio simply said his players’ woeful shooting touch from the perimeter spelled their downfall.

"If there is one glaring statistic in this game is that we can’t shoot from the ‘three,’" said Gregorio. "If we can’t shoot from the outside they’ll just crowd the paint and that’s going to be extra tough because our lineup’s not as deep as theirs. They can dig deep up to the 14th man."

Gregorio added he ordered his team to rest yesterday to give his players, who have played eight games in two weeks, a much-needed breather. That stretch, he pointed out, is perhaps one of the reasons his charges missed nine of 31 free throws last Sunday.

"With San Miguel it’s not just about making stops but also making baskets," he said. "We had a hard time making ‘3s’ and connecting from the free throw line today and that’s basically the story for this game."

The one-sided trend became apparent after SMB pulled away right after taking the first quarter 24-12 and was visibly irreversible after the difference got stretched to 74-57 early in the fourth period.

Jonas Villanueva and Mike Cortez led the Beermen in closing out the game with eight points each in the final quarter.

After making only five of 18 shots in the opening period, Purefoods finally displayed some touch by going 8-for-18 in the second to pull within 36-40 at the half.

But Arwind Santos scattered seven of his 13 points in the third and got ample support from Dondon Hontiveros, Dorian Pena and Mick Pennisi in giving SMB a 67-55 cushion heading into the last 12 minutes.

Jay Washington and Hontiveros finished with 15 points apiece to lead five Beermen in double figures.

Source: NOLI CORTEZ, Business Insight Malaya

bakit di nglaro c tugade? injured b cya?? <3