Siot to his Beermen: Let’s play cautiously

They are now just a couple of wins away from an automatic semifinal seat and the path looks clear for the San Miguel Beermen, with a long break to rest their weary bodies before facing two teams in the lower half of the standings.

But San Miguel head coach Siot Tanquingcen stressed they should be even more cautious.

“Three games to go but we have to be cautious. Kahit nasa lower half sila ng standings, we can’t take them for granted,” said Tanquincgcen.

After dispatching sister team Barangay Ginebra in overtime on Sunday, 91-86, the Beermen improved their win-loss record to 12-3 with three games left in the elimination round of the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

They will be taking a 19-day break before facing Barako Bull on January 8, Coca-Cola on January 13 and defending champion Talk ’N Text on January 16 in Zamboanga City.

“Ang maganda sa liga na ito, anybody can beat any team in any given night. That tells you how tough the competition is,” Tanquingcen added.

The Beermen, who are the tournament favorites following the acquisition of Arwind Santos and Dennis Miranda in the offseason, actually started slow, losing their first two games to the Kings (86-98) and league leader Alaska (74-85).

But San Miguel won its next eight assignments to surge ahead in the standings. The Aces ended their eight-game winning streak with a 122-116 overtime victory but they went on to win their next three games.

“We had a shaky start, buti na lang naayos. We have now a good mix of young and veteran players in the team,” he said.

Against Ginebra two nights ago, the Beermen relied on Olsen Racela and Danny Seigle to get back in the game and leaned on the crucial baskets of Miranda, Santos, Mike Cortez and Jonas Villanueva in the crucial stretch to score the come-from-behind win.

Villanueva, the Finals Most Valuable Player in the team’s conquest of the Fiesta Conference crown against the Kings, is now one of the team’s most reliable finishers.

“Since last conference, we’ve been going to Jonas. Kumbaga transition pero we still need the old reliables like sila Olsen [Racela] because they provide stability in the team,” Tanquingcen said.

With the players now playing as one solid unit, the biggest challenge now for Tanquingcen and the San Miguel coaching staff is how to keep the team focused and determined in the midst of a long lull.